When Life Throws You Lemons
by tsuki miko
Summary: AU After a bad break up, Kagome discovers that making it on your own isn't as easy as she once thought. Then, one rainy day, a can of beans throws her into the arms of her hero, where things take a very unexpected turn changing the lives of all involved
1. Default Chapter

**Canned Beans**

**Chapter One**

"This is it. It can't get any worse then this," she sniffled, grasping the collar of her light zip-up while trying to fend off the down pour with a sopping bundle, of what used to be newspaper. Those were her thoughts about two seconds before a double decker bus sped passed leaving something equivalent to a small tidal wave in it's wake, which promptly consumed everything in its path, consisting mostly of the once dry, happy-go-lucky girl by the name of Higurashi, Kagome.

Yes, this was once a girl who had everything; the world was at her fingertips. She had a loving mother and father, a tolerable younger brother and a somewhat, eccentric grandfather.

They lived in a happy home. It didn't really matter that it was a massive estate with over thirty rooms, pillars in the front, and a pool, sauna – not to mention a view that could steal your breath no matter how many times you saw it – Jacuzzi, and club house found in the back. And this was just what Father Higurashi called their 'autumn home', which was one of the four estates the Higurashi's' rotated between during the different seasons.

And it really didn't matter to Kagome that she came from a wealthy (very wealthy) family because, as she was taught as a child all the way through to her semi-adult years, 'It doesn't matter if you live in a box. As long as you fill it with love it will be a home'.

Kagome had believed this up until a few weeks ago.

* * *

When she first laid her misty blue, naïve, eyes on the tall, sophisticated, silvery form of the first man (technically demon) she would ever get "those kinds of feelings" for, she knew she was in love with him. 

As she was the daughter of The Higurashi, she played hostess along with her mother meeting and greeting all of their friends and business associates at the dinner parties they threw. After she was practically dragged over to meet with him by her seemingly best friend Sango, her feelings were solidified. Even though the first things out of his mouth besides his name, had been some pompous comment about hating having to come to menial gatherings such as these.

Kagome, never one to keep her opinions to herself - especially when it came to insults directed towards her family - had never felt more inclined to give someone a piece of her mind. Educating him as to how much effort was put forth into the makings of the so-called 'menial gathering', and then tastefully addressing his lack of morality and manners, she was rewarded with a cold, slightly amused, golden gaze, which made her shiver. Making a noise suspiciously like a snort, he had turned and left. Vehemently she tried to rid herself of any such romantic feelings felt for the haughty, snob who she would swear (on many occasions to come) that his own pride was shoved so far up "where the sun don't shine" that it was amazing he could walk at all

Their next meeting was a formal introduction made by her father where she was required to act civilised towards him, and like wise, where she met his father, and decided that he had definitely inherited his personality from someone else.

While this party was many times smaller then the grand party the Higurashi's had thrown a few weeks earlier, the proper precautions were taken, aka: formal dress, hourdurves, seating arrangements, wine, three course meals, music, dancing. The whole nine yards. Although Kagome had attended many parties in her life, had sat next to countless people, had endured cheek pinching after cheek pinching, over came the acute embarrassment of being hit on by sleazy "junior execs", as she liked to call them. She had come out of all of those annoying, uncomfortable, degrading situations and she felt she was a better person because of it. But when her father announced that they were to be joining the Inutaishos' as their 'table-mates', Kagome couldn't help but blanche just a bit.

Sitting there eating was the easy part. The parents talked easily enough, and when it came to small talk between his father and her, their conversations flowed quite nicely. Not once did she feel the need to put on her fake happy face, which (little did she know) could be seen through by virtually anyone with a brain.

He had stayed quiet for the most part, only saying anything when spoken to, and even then his answers were direct and to the point; no elaboration.

She couldn't stop her eyes from making their traitorous way back to him. He was a very intriguing piece of work. He was beautiful with his piercing yellow eyes, straight nose, generous mouth, and that wealth of pure white hair that glinted the way snow does in the sun when he moved it just so…

Reminding herself to blink and divert her eyes somewhere not as blatant as his face was slowly wearing on her nerves, and she went to excuse herself when she realised the parents had left and she was sitting there alone with someone she really didn't want to be alone with.

Insulting her again for being basically a twit, that evening became the starting point of their relationship.

It was a strange relationship to say the least, for he was a man of few words, and the words that did pass over his lips were, for the most part, premeditated and usually ended up sounding arrogant, or dangerous. Where as she said pretty much everything that was on her mind, which ended up balancing things out quite nicely. And as the months passed and the barriers around them fell, it was Kagome who initiated the first kiss.

It was during yet another dinner party where they had slipped out to get some air because he wasn't really into the dancing and intermingling, and while she was, she did make the exception for him. She knew that he didn't mind going out alone - that was how he preferred it - but she also knew that he, on some level, enjoyed her company and she was more than willing to give it.

So there they were, standing on the balcony, looking off into the dotted midnight sky, Kagome talking while he listened. Then he was talking, and it was about something other then companionable banter, it was something serious and deep. She didn't think he knew that he was saying such things aloud, he was just standing, talking; his eyes reflecting the light from the moon…and then she was on her tiptoes and her lips were pressed against his cheek.

She felt him tense but she didn't jerk away, she let it linger just long enough so the meaning wasn't lost to him. When she pulled away he was still looking out at the night and she was glad that the lights were gracious enough to grant shadows for her to hide in. She took their cover and started bumbling some fragmented apologies/explanations. He stopped her as she began to make her way inside and asked her in his quiet way that made people nervous, if she meant it. Humiliated, (and a tad scared) she didn't dare lie, and if she had he would have known and the out come may not have been as pretty.

Swallowing her fear, and any other emotion that was threatening to overflow, she met his eyes, that strange glow they acquired in the dark gave him a look of foreboding. She told him yes, she had meant it, and he told her that there was nothing to apologise for before he took that one last step, the step that filled the gap, that turned the page; the step that sealed the deal. He kissed her - her first kiss - and it was warm, and she liked it very much. That was the first of many kisses, kisses that soon turned from mere kisses to breaths, to whispers and moans, to love. They were in love and she was young.

Her father didn't like the idea of them being involved due to the age difference but her mother approved.

"If she's in love age doesn't matter," Mama Higurashi had said right before she elbowed her husband in the ribs. "Isn't that right Hunny?" he had immediately shook his head in approval. Her brother Souta had always been weary of him but she chalked that up to him being a wimp, but her grandfather was the only one that brought up the fact that he was youkai.

She finished up her last year of high school and a few weeks later on (unbeknownst to Kagome) they shared their five-month anniversary, which he had considered was from the first time they kissed. Surprised at his uncharacteristic show of sentimentality, she succeed in - what she believed to be the most shocking event of their relationship thus far – making the stony youkai blush just a little.

She was led onto a jet, blindfolded, led into a Limo, then into an extremely spacious penthouse apartment overlooking the ever-impressive city known as the big apple.

After having a small tiff over the fact that she hadn't known it was their anniversary, they made up and christened their new apartment in the only real way.

Kagome decided to take the first year off to travel with him, suiting their life style due to his moving around a lot on business. During the first few months abroad she had gotten home sick and decided to make a detour to visit with her family, which ended up lasting about a whole month. Meeting back up with him briefly in Europe, they both came to the conclusion that he was far too preoccupied with work to enjoy their time together so she continued on without him for a short while before heading back to the uninhabited apartment they shared in New York.

She began the task of making the apartment ready to become a home, incorporating her own styles with his trying not to turn it completely girlie. This project occupied her for a time before she started to get restless. She had, after all, just turned nineteen and was never one to stay idle for longer than was absolutely necessary. She was also beginning to get a little lonely without him to keep her company. Although a fair share of their time alone together was spent in silence, for he had always felt that there was really no need to waste breath on a lot of pointless drivel. He felt comfortable enough with Kagome, and felt that she knew him well enough to know that words were not always needed, and he was okay with that.

In the beginning he had come back to her whenever the chance presented itself, but after an extremely stressful merger (viewed by him as unnecessary) with none other then Naraku, Onigumo, and his father becoming sick… his time away started reaching an all time high.

The first time she really knew that something wasn't right with them followed the last time they made love, the way he had acted afterward…she couldn't ignore that. So the questions began, and so did the fighting, the silent treatment, and the tears weren't far behind. Then his father died and a part of him died too, a very, very important part: the part that cared for her.

She discovered shortly there after that he was having an affair with one of his new business partners. From the one time she had met her, Kagome had deducted that she was one of the women categorised as beautiful but deadly. Cool demeanour, proud stance, condescending stare, youkai. Looking back on it Kagome wondered why she hadn't seen it coming. This woman - this youkai - was his equal, there was no way that she could ever compete with her, no matter how badly she wanted to be the one for him.

* * *

And even after he changed, broke her heart, and left her with nothing she still loved him and she hated herself for it. Bringing her to her current predicament. She was soaking wet, she was tired, she was hungry, she was without residence, without funds, without friends…to sum it all up: she was alone in New York City, in the middle of spring (the never ending rain season), and she was broke. She wondered again for about the millionth time that day how things had gotten turned so upside down. 

After they shared their last fight she had stormed out and came back later to an empty apartment (which she was shortly escorted out of by security), and to find that all of her accounts had been closed except for her own personal account, which was nothing to brag about. It kept her off of the streets for the first little while, and – against her better judgement – she had declined the help her family had offered after they found out what happened. She wanted to keep a semblance of her dignity intact after she was humiliated so profusely and, in true Kagome fashion, she had tried desperately to look on the bright side of things. After all, it couldn't be that hard to make it on your own people did it all the time that came out of worse situations didn't they?

She tried to stay as optimistic as possible while she was fighting off the rat sized cockroaches in her rundown, filthy, disgusting low rental motel room, which she couldn't decide if it smelled more of its numerous, previous tenants, or mould and rotten cheese. Tried to stay optimistic while she lay wide eyed in the middle of the night preying that she had locked the door, while fights commenced in the neighbouring rooms, and in the alleyway under her window. She tried to stay optimistic while she was rejected time and again from each job interview she attended.

She was hired as a waitress at a greasy restaurant, which lasted all of two days before she was fired for being too clumsy.

Tripping over an empty can of beans brought her out of her bleak thoughts as she stumble forward into an unsuspecting pedestrian.

"Watch where you're going, bitch," he growled as he pushed her out of his intercepting grasp, sparing her a scathing glance before he continued on his 'merry' way.

All she saw of her "hero" was a face full of wet leather, and a fleeting glimpse of silvery white hair, resulting in her heart becoming lodged in her throat, successfully cutting off her oxygen. So she stood there, paralysed, just the way he left her: bent down, torso twisted to watch his retreating figure. Having never fainted before the experience was an interesting one. Still staring in the direction he had gone black dots started to appear, pretty soon taking over her whole vision, but not before she caught another glimpse of silver, then everything went black.

* * *

Inuyasha grabbed at the back of his jeans then the front, then the pockets in his jacket. He had, had someone attempt to steal his wallet before using the same routine with the exception of the tripping on the can, but one can never be too careful about these things, especially in New York City. 

He grinned - a little nastily - thinking of the pathetic excuse for a pickpocket that was currently residing in his apartment…until further arrangements could be made of course. His thought process stop abruptly as his claws came up with no wallet.

"Damn it!" he hissed as he turned around, intent on catching the sneaky little thief. He was hoping to get to her before she got too far ahead but he wasn't expecting her to still be there…in the same position…with a vacant stare…about to fall over.

Rushing over to her, he caught her before she fell and cursed. Gathering her in his arms trying to make his way through the uncaring crowd he finally spotted an opening and took it, leading him right into a dirty alleyway.

Kneeling down, repositioning her so he had access to her face he tapped it gently.

"Oi," he demanded as quietly as his irritation would allow. "Oi! Wake up you stupid girl," this time a little louder accompanied by a jostle. He sighed irritably and glanced back into the ever-moving mass of people trying to decide what to do with her, until he heard her make a small noise.

"Mmumh…" she twitched.

"You going to wake up now?" he asked gruffly. Her eyes fluttered.

"Wah? You…why…" the slight recognition in her unfocused eyes gave him pause, and he was about to ask her just who she was when she passed out again.

"Fucking great," he mumbled as he hoisted her up again, and rejoined the masses, the retrieval of his wallet all but forgotten.

* * *

Yet another story to add to the ever-growing collection with a completely different spin, AND, it's AU! How much fun is that! I know, I know, New York is the usual setting for AU fics but what can you do? 

Well, I hope you enjoyed it because there are definitely many, many more twists and turns to come. Exciting? I think so! And don't be shy. Reviews are always welcome and muchly appreciated, and thanks for taking the time to read my stuff. It makes me feel all good inside (big goofy smile).

Tsuki Miko


	2. Chapter 2

Here's the full summary; I was just so psyched when I posted the first chapter that I forgot to add it…and let people know it's an AU in the condensed summary (which I'm tweaking just a bit)…and put up a disclaimer…the list keeps going…

**When Life Throws You Lemons** (AU)

The once happy go lucky Kagome Higurashi is finding out, after a bad break up, that making it on your own is not as easy as she had originally hoped. Then, one rainy day in the streets of NYC, all of her 'luck' changes when a can of beans throws her in to the arms of her 'hero'. Unsure of who is really saving whom, things take a _very_ unexpected turn that ends up changing the lives of all involved.

Tee-hee! So exciting!

* * *

**Jiminy Crickets**

**Chapter 2**

"Inuyasha! What took you so long you baka! I'm starving here! Jeeze, I didn't think that it would take you 500 years just to get…" the little berating voice trailed off as the unfamiliar scent of an unfamiliar human reached his pert little nose. Not just a human: a female human, which wouldn't have been so strange if his "captor" actually associated with the female of _any_ species.

Pushing the stool he was sitting on away from the bar style counter, the boy scampered off in the direction of the new smell. The scene he was met with stopped him in his tracks.

There was Inuyasha, drenched, with a look that rivalled the one he had given the-would-be pickpocket the first time he ever lay eyes on him. Add to that the equally drenched girl (who looked to be unconscious) he was carrying, and the fact that he was trying to blow his drooping bangs out of his eyes - which where crossed -while he glared for all he was worth at the offending pieces. You got yourself one damn funny scene, but before the boy could comment Inuyasha turned his glower at him.

"Not a fucking word," he snarled, then added, "go make yourself useful for once and grab me some towels."

Not really inclined to piss off the already pissed off hanyou anymore he hurried off to do his bidding but not without some indignant muttering.

Kicking off his work boots he carried the still unconscious girl over into the living room, resisting the urge to just dump her on the sofa. Instead he stood there tapping his foot at the length of time it was taking the kit to grab a few stinking towels, while he scanned the room for an extra blanket or something. Failing to find anything of use he yelled to the boy.

"What the hell is taking you so long Shippo?" just as he finished the sentence the boy stumbled around the corner, dropping the stack of towels he was carrying.

"Look what you made me do, baka!" he started grabbing them up once again. "I don't know how clean some of these are, but I brought the ones that didn't smell _too _bad." He stated scrunching his nose up and thrusting the towels at him. "Since all of them were thrown in a basket _unfolded_, I didn't know which ones were clean and which ones still had your cooties all over them." He made an offering motion with his hands meaning for Inuyasha to take the load.

"My hands are a little full if you haven't noticed. Now stop complaining and help me out here." Only slightly miffed at the jab made towards the cleanliness of the towels he didn't miss the opportunity to kick the runt in the head using the girls sneaker clad feet as his weapon of choice when he walked by.

"Jerk," was what he got in return; he grinned.

Turning his attention back to the _still_ unconscious girl in his arms he told Shippo to lay one off the towels down on the sofa before he lay the girl down. Then ordered him to put one over the throw pillow, which earned him and incredulous stare.

"Don't you remember when I brought you here! You almost cost me my hair because you had such a bad case of lice! I ain't taking no chances." That killed whatever the brat had to say. Inuyasha snickered inwardly.

Shippo did as he was told with a slight frown and a slight pinking of the cheeks.

"So, what happened to her? Did you scare her senseless with your ugly mug or did you find her that way?" he quipped.

"I'll give you an ugly mug if you don't shut the hell up Shippo," he growled as he swiped at him and missed, while his own cheeks heated up a little at the realisation that it was entirely possible that, that had been the case.

"I found her like this," he grumbled.

"Where?"

"On the sidewalk."

"She was just lying on the sidewalk and you decided to be a 'Good Samaritan' and just pick her up and bring her back to your place? Yeah right. You walk by passed out people all the time Inuyasha, I've seen you do it."

"Well I did, so drop it all ready."

"Whatever." He would find out what really happened soon enough, after the girl woke up. _'I am so looking forward to that,'_ he smirked. Inuyasha was too busy looking uncomfortable, and awkwardly trying to dab at the wet girl in the most un-invasive way possible to notice it.

"Take off her shoes and socks, then wrap her feet up," he paused. "Then you can take off her jacket thing, and get a blanket to cover her."

"Shouldn't we take all of her clothes off and _then_ wrap her up in a blanket? She's just going to get the blanket wet if we do it that way. Plus, I'm too small to hold her up and take off her jacket at the same time, you do it, you're stronger."

"Flattery ain't gettin' you no where kid," he stated, although he did push him aside and began tugging the zipper downward with a gulp, and the brightening of his cheeks.

A few seconds later - with the zipper almost at the bottom - his cheek acquired a noticeably darker shade in the shape of a handprint.

Too stunned to move he continued to kneel there and stare.

'_What the hell? She's not even awake?'_ he thought incredulously.

Shippo tittered in the background and the girl groaned, bring her stinging palm to her forehead.

"Ow," she muttered, her eyelids fluttering as she tried to open them to inspect the wounded appendage.

"Ow? You're saying 'Ow'? I'm the one who got slapped in the face!" the voice beside her shouted.

Startled, scared, and disoriented she gasped, threw her hands over her head and rolled away from the noise… or that was her intention. What she really ended up doing was smacking the dumbfounded hanyou a second time – this time in the nose – and then managed to push herself off the sofa and land on top of the noise maker. Who was currently wheezing an interesting array of swear words while he pushed her off of him.

Her breath caught for the second time that day as she was forced to stare into a pair of blazing molten eyes and at a face framed by the silvery trademark hair of the Inutaishos.

Eyes growing incredibly wide as confusion and fear ran ramped through her mind. Confused as to where she was and why she was staring into a face that could easily be that of her ex-boyfriend, and deathly afraid that she finally went over the edge and was actually seeing things. Not to mention the fierce glower the impostor was shooting her would definitely be found under "if looks could kill."

Now breathing hard, she scrambled away as fast as she could until the sofa hindered her progress. She drew her knees up, wrapping her arms around them painfully tight, then ducked her head so only her wild eyes peeked up from under the fringe of wet bangs.

"Who are you?" she whispered shakily, panic evident in her voice.

Inuyasha along with Shippo were both speechless, faces mirroring one another.

"Inuyasha…what did you do to her?" Shippo breathed before he snapped his round eyes back to the hanyou in question. "It _was_ your ugly mug wasn't it! She didn't freak out til' she got a good look at you!" he accused as he started his way over to the cowering girl.

"Don't worry Miss, Mutt-Face won't hurt you, right_ Mutt-Face_?" the kit emphasised with a meaningful glare.

"Keh!" was all he got as Inuyasha finally found his mobility and got up. Crossing his arms over his chest he walked around the sofa then leaned on it with his back turned to the two other occupants, frown in place.

Shippo shot him another glare before he returned his focus on the frightened girl.

"It's ok," he approached her slowly. "I'm Shippo and _that_ is Inuyasha," he gestured to himself then to the sulking form behind the coach. "He's really grumpy," he confided behind his hand, although it was loud enough to be heard.

"So…what's your name?" It took her a few seconds to find her voice.

"I'm Higurashi, Kagome. Pleased to meet you," she stated automatically, sticking her hand out in formal greeting. Still pretty dazed she didn't think about how strange the ingrained action seemed under the circumstances. Shippo paused for a fraction of a second before a bright smile took over, and he took her hand in his smaller one.

"Nice to meet you too, Kagome!" the statement and enthusiastic handshake was enough to break through some of the crazy fog that decided to replace her brain.

"At least someone has manners around here," he said, grinning when he heard Inuyasha's growl while his ear gave a twitch.

"So why did you faint? Do you remember? Inuyasha didn't hurt you did he?"

"Feh! Like I'd hurt a weak little human wench like her, and why don't you can it with all your little comments twerp, before I really give you something to comment on," he threatened with a glower from the corner of his eye.

"That's no way to talk to a child." Kagome reprimanded, breaking the glaring match the two were currently taking part in. Both a little shocked to hear her speak immediately turned their stares back to her.

"I'll talk to the runt however I want, and where do you get off telling me what I can and can't do? I'm the one who saved your ass from being trampled to death when you fainted _dead away_ in the middle of that sea of jerks; you should at least be grateful for that. _And_ I even brought you back here to make sure you were all right, and what thanks do I get for that? You slap me, almost break my nose and ribs, and then you stare at me like I have five heads." He stopped his tirade when a thought hit him. "You got something against hanyous?" the look in his eyes was as cold and calculating as his tone.

"No, it's just you…I thought – well - I am grateful but you shouldn't talk that way to children…or to anyone for that matter…"

Anger was beginning to take over as she just realised all the nasty things he had said to her in the span of 5 minutes.

"And just where do _you_ get off call me 'weak' and 'wench' and accuse me of being racist?"

"You fainted - in case you don't remember," he stated smugly.

"It's not my fault you…Argh! I didn't plan that, and it wasn't my fault you scared me and made me slap you. What we're you hovering over me for anyway?" she asked suspiciously when his face scrunched up in an embarrassed scowl.

Taking a moment to think over the possibilities she finally took notice of the fact that she was still wet and her "jacket" was open exposing certain assets that did not take to the cold very well. Epping, she quickly threw her arms across her chest, face-turning beat red while she turned a vicious look on her "hero."

"PERVERT!" echoed in the now silent apartment, that is, until Inuyasha started up his indignant spluttering.

"Wha…I-I-I- that wasn't…I- it's not what you think! You were wet! I mean…we needed to get your clothes off – wait!" he started back peddling as Kagome stormed after him. "We needed to get you dry! You could have caught a cold!

"I DIDN'T PEEK!" he shouted, waving his hands wildly when she had him cornered.

As his words sank in she reigned in the urge to slap him silly.

"So… you were just worried… about my health?" she raised her eyebrow suspiciously.

Inuyasha gathered as much of his dignity as he could straightening his back, squaring his shoulders; held his chin high to the side, crossed his arms, closed his eyes, lips turned down in a scowl. He snorted indelicately. The only thing that betrayed his façade and gave away the truth was the light pink that dusted his cheeks.

She figured he was telling the truth. After all, he did bring her here after she fainted, and she didn't think that he had any "ulterior" motive seeing as there was a kid here with him. She sighed, and rubber her hand over her eyes.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "This is more then most people would do for a complete stranger. And I'm sorry I hit you, I was just startled. Sorry."

Inuyasha's blush deepened, and he cracked open one of his eyes to regard her.

Feeling a curious pricking behind her eyes, she belatedly realised that she was on the brink of crying. Too much had happened in such a short period of time, and the fact that this 'Inuyasha' resembled her ex so closely didn't help her any.

_'Oh God, don't cry! You've already freaked out on these poor people they don't need to see you cry like a baby!'  
_

She cleared her throat loudly trying to get pasted the lump that was forming there.

"Um, could I use your bathroom?" she asked tentatively.

"Down the hall to the right. The second door," he instructed her, a guarded look on his face.

"Thanks."

As soon as she was out of ear shot Inuyasha deflated. That wasn't how that was supposed to have happened. She was supposed to wake up, he was supposed to get some answers, and she was supposed to leave…unless she wanted to stick around for a while…

'_Nope, we're not going there today.' _That train of thought wasn't going to get him anywhere.

Ithadn't escaped his notice that this 'Kagome,' closely resembled a significant other from the past - _the_ significant other from the past. He sighed then looked at Shippo, who was standing on the sofa arms draped over the back with an amused smirk lighting up his green eyes.

"That was pretty entertaining Inuyasha, you really know how to deal with girls. Maybe you should pickup unconscious girls more often," he stated tittering and then paused. "You know she's crying in there right?" The question was full of curiosity, and as much as Inuyasha wanted to bop him on the head for being a smart-ass, he winced at the reminder.

"Yeah, I know."

'_God I hate it when girls cry. What the hell am I supposed to do, she's in the bathroom because she obviously wants to be left alone.'_

'_But _should_ you leave her alone? She could be suicidal for all you know.'_

'_I can really pick em,'_ he thought miserably, already making his way toward the bathroom trying to quell the nervous feelings that were making him fidgety. Tentatively knocking on the door he cleared his throat to let her know he was there.

"Um…are you – are you almost finished up in there?" he heard her muffled sniffle, trying to be as discreet as she could.

"Yeah," she tried to clear the tears from her voice. "Yeah, I'll be out in a minute." Furiously wiping the remaining tears from her face she waited until his footsteps became distant to blow her nose.

Looking at her 'drowned rat' like appearance her now red nose and red eyes just made it all the more convincing. Huffing, she turned the taps and waited for the water to warm up before she let it fill up her improvised cup, and splashed it over her face in hopes that it would magically get rid of the redness.

Glancing up again she quickly decided that the mirror was not her friend, and moved her eyes about the small bathroom in search of a face towel; no such luck.

_'Well luck hasn't been on your side for a few months now Kag, so I suggest you stop counting on it.'_

'_Yeah, yeah. I heard you the first hundred times you said it.'_ She hated arguing with herself, especially when 'herself' had already made its valid point many, _many_ times before.

She settled for using her sleeve, which wasn't much of a help but I got rid of the drips. She fussed with her hair for a minute, when another knock sounded on the door.

"Miss Kagome? Did you faint again?" she let out a little laugh at his question.

"No, I'm fine. I was just fixing my hair."

_'You really ought to have thought of a better excuse Kag. No one will buy that. Saying you were just smacking yourself around would have been more believable.'_

'_That's not a bad idea. Very tempting actually,'_ she thought sarcastically, and wondered if other people made threats toward their inner voices…_'Probably not.'  
_

Taking a deep breath she opened the door to find the small demon child sitting beside it.

"I just wanted to make sure you were ok," he stated as a blush stole up his face.

She gave him a warm smile.

"So what type of demon are you Shippo?"

"I'm a fox youkai," he stated proudly, puffing out his chest as they by passed the kitchen.

"More like an "pain in the ass" youkai," Inuyasha mumbled from behind his glass. That earned him a glare times two.

"Do you want some water or something?" he asked grudgingly.

"Water please."

She thanked him when he brought her a glass, then looked away as an awkward silence fell over them.

The initial shock his looks caused was starting to wear off but that didn't stop the knots in her belly from tightening every time she looked at him. The more she looked at him the more differences she could discern. 'Inuyasha' was shorter for one, and his facial features were much broader in comparison to the slighter, more aristocratic facial construction of his would-be twin.

'_Broad and aristocratic' _those were the two words that separated them. Inuyasha was shorter (although he was still taller than she was) and broader with an unidentifiable _something_ about him, where as the original was taller with a more aristocratic make, a sophisticated (if not slightly pretentious) air.

_'There was nothing aristocratic about what was underneath his sophisticated façade.'  
_

Thrilled that to have something like that brought to her attention, she blushed furiously and looked away, taking a large gulp of the cool water preying that it would put out the mad fire that was burning over her body. To make matters worse though, the second mouthful decided it would be funny to go down the wrong tube causing her to choke.

The hanyou strode over to awkwardly pat her on the back sporting a slight blush of his own, which was nothing, compared to hers.

"Thanks," she managed, now more embarrassed about making a scene then having 'herself' entertain naked thoughts of a certain inu youkai.

"Take a breath before you take a drink next time," he admonished gruffly as he looked away, the blush still evident.

"Hey, Miss Kagome? Did you pass out because you're sick or something?" she turned to him, greatful for the distraction.

"No, I'm not sick Shippo."

"Are you sure? Your face is pretty red, maybe you got a fever or something." She stared at him wide eyed.

"Maybe you have some kind of unknown sickness that rejects water, and that's why you fainted in the rain! And that's why you choked on it just now!" he exclaimed as his face contorted into an expression somewhere between horrified, and fascinated.

When the kit looked like he was just about to go into a "what if" fit, Inuyasha quickly bopped him on the head.

"Save it for someone who cares, twerp." Inuyasha muttered.

Shippo's eyes got very big and very watery but Inuyasha could detect a certain evil spark hiding just behind the hurt gaze.

'_He's not…he _is_! That little runt! After this girl gets outta here he's going to have more then a few bumps and watery eyes when I'm done with his sorry ass…'_ Apparently his other half agreed with that.

The girl was glaring at him again before she bent down to console the kid, who had thrown in the wobbling lip for good measure.

"Don't cry Shippo, it's ok.

"You should know better then to hit innocent children! What kind of…of," she paused in her tirade. "What relation are you to him anyway?" Her curiosity always seemed to get the upper hand.

"Me? Related to _that!_ Yeah right…" he trailed off with a snort.

"Where not family if that's what you're talking about," Shippo interjected.

"Inuyasha took me in, kinda like you but I didn't faint because his face is so scary. I…um…he said that he would keep me here until he could find a place that will take me." The look in his eyes was genuine this time, and even Inuyasha felt a twinge of guilt for being so hard on the kit. He covered up his unease quickly though.

"Keh! What he meant to say was that I caught him trying to pick my pocket, and the only reason you're still here is because you wouldn't let go of my leg when I tried to take you to the police station."

_'That and the fact that he started crying about both his parents being dead.'_

'_Yeah there was that…Keh!' _he snorted to himself. His thoughts just weren't going to let him have one day of peace where not everything he did or said brought back all the unhappy memories.

"Well that was decent of you…Inuyasha," she said hesitantly.

_'He can't be all that bad if he is taking care of a child that isn't even part of his family.'_

_'He still treats him like crap.'_

_'Maybe that's just his way of dealing with children…or everyone. He does seem to be pretty testy in general.'_

_'Still…'_

_'Oh, pipe down will you! You were never this cynical before…'_ she regretted the though as soon as it was put out there. Not wanting to continue down that particular path, she cleared her throat and refocused…on the hanyou's face, which her eyes seemed to be trained on the whole time she was in thought.

He didn't look impressed.

"You look like you think I'm some kinda saint or some kinda loon, and I ain't either so quit staring," he groused, his pout resurfacing.

"I'm sorry, I'm still kind of out of it," just then an extremely large growl sounded, and it took all of them a second to figure out that it came from Kagome's stomach.

"Inuyasha," Shippo complained. "You could have at least offered her some food," he rolled his eyes.

Inuyasha spun around to Kagome who took a step back.

"You didn't steal my wallet did you!" he demanded while he began patting around her pockets. She slapped his hands away.

"What do you think you're doing! You can keep your hands to yourself, thank you very much. And no, I didn't steal you wallet." She ended with her arms crossed.

"Well I don't have it, and you were the last person who bumped into me!"

"You must have dropped it somewhere then because I don't have it!"

"Well that's just fucking great!"

Kagome slammed her hands over the kits ears.

"There is a childpresent in case you haven't noticed!" she hissed.

"Keh! He's the least of our problems right now, wench," he ignored her indignant stare. "If you don't have my wallet and I don't have my wallet then someone else has my wallet by now, which means they have my money, my credit cards, my fucking…" his temper just kept slipping away.

_'Not to mention that picture of you-know-who…isn't that the last one you have of her?'_

_'Nah, there's still the one I have under my pil… damn it!'_ how it was possible to one up yourself was beyond him.

_'That's sick and sad, you know,'_ his so-called conscience declared.

_'Shut the fuck will you!'  
_

"Why don't you just call the banks and tell them that your wallet was stolen, have them cancel your cards, and then just reopen the accounts. It's not that difficult to do," Kagome supplied easily.

All he could do was make unintelligible comments as he went to the phone.

"Inuyasha was on his way to get the groceries before he found you so there's not much here other then his cupboards full of Ramen. That's pretty much all that he eats. I have to force him to go buy healthy food. Most of the time I go with him but I had to do some homework and he was late getting off work anyway, so…yeah." hegrinned

"So why did you faint? You can tell me now while he's not listening." He jumped up onto his recently vacated seat, cocked his head to the side and put his hands up to his pointed ear.

Embarrassed enough over the fact that she actually fainted, she felt pretty silly telling this overly perceptive child her reason.

"Well," she whispered. "I – um…he looks a lot like someone I know and I – it just startled me because I didn't know there was anyone else who looked like him…"

_'Well that was another lame excuse Kag. You should write a book, I'm sure it would sell like hot cakes. Just think: Higurashi's Big Book of Lame Excuses, pretty catchy eh?'_

_'Haha, I almost forgot to laugh.'_

_'You could also do one on lame sayings. They'd both be major_ _hits...'_

Shippo was tittering madly.

"Shippo?"

"It was his - " he gasped, then grabbed his sides.

"It was his ug-ugly _mug_!" he lost the war of keeping it in and burst out laughing and pointing. Kagome wondered if her face was ever going to revert back to its original color after the near constant blaze she'd had since she woke up.

Inuyasha had the phone pulled away from his ear and was now simultaneously yelling at it and Shippo.

_'This is going to be a long day…'_

_'You said it…'  
_

_

* * *

_

Oh my god! I am having so much fun writing this story it's unbelievable!

WOO HOO!

Ehem…anyway…

I would like to state for the record that I don't own Inuyasha or any other characters affiliated with the manga/anime created by Rumiko Takahashi. I just kinda borrow them and put them in awkward situations for my own twisted amusement…tee-hee. And that goes for the first chapter and all the ones to come so please don't sue me! And don't hate me for the errors and whatnot, I tried.

So I guess that's it!

Until the next chapter

Bye, bye!


	3. Chapter 3

And here's the third chapter! I hope you enjoy!

I would like to give a gynormous thanks to those of you who reviewed. It means so much to me, it also give me the encouragement that I sometimes need to get things posted in a relatively timely manner. So thanks bundles!

* * *

**A Wolf Dressed in Sheep's Clothing**

**Chapter 3**

He had been racking his brain for the last two days trying to figure out who the girl in the picture was, and why she looked so damn familiar. It had been eating at him ever since he found the wallet on the sidewalk.

Walking home from the office was something he normally didn't do during a torrential down pour, but he had been feeling restless all day and figured the rain might do him some good. Which, for the most part, had until he stepped on the soggy, leather wallet, something he normally would have kicked out of the way and kept on walking. The only reason he did stop and pick it up was because of the worn and warped picture sticking out of the corner…which also happened to be amongst some bills. Besides, who was he to pass up an opportunity for some free cash?

After he reached down and snatched it up he hurried to get into the cover of his apartment and out of the rain so he could get a better look at his new found treasure. Little did he know that after discovering the "cash" he saw sticking out only amounted to $17.87, including what he found in the change compartment. There were a few bankcards, the guys ID, an expired driver's license, a couple business cards, and the picture. This 'Inuyasha' character seemed to be a pretty boring guy, and he would have just thrown the ratty piece of leather in the trash if it hadn't have been for the damn picture. The fact that it was warped from the rain didn't help, but it appeared to be a photograph of a girl sitting on a hill at sunset, looking at the photographer. He couldn't decide if it was the rains doing or that of the actual subject that made her eyes look so forlorn, made the whole image so sad. Why anyone would want to carry around such a depressing picture was beyond him but still, the girl nagged at him. He felt as though he had met the girl somewhere, or, at the very least saw her.

It wasn't until he was gazing out the window of the exec room, on the twenty-second floor during an _incredibly _boring meeting that he noticed the giant billboard across the way was finally getting something of interest up; and it was most definitely interesting.

The crew were still covering her face with the pulley but he could see the rest of her just fine, and if her body was anything to go by, she was more then just fine, she was down right sinful. Her sleek, muscular - though most definitely feminine - figure, was somehow accentuated by the deep scarlet satin, scoop neck bra and panty set. With her right leg hooked in front of her and the left tucked behind, it set the stage for the beginning of a very compromising position but the photographer (_'God love them,')_ had enough sense to hold propriety over raunchiness. Which was something many advertisements didn't seem to take into consideration. Sex sells, but there is always a line to be crossed, and it was amazing to see how many ads actually got away with it.

He smirked at that. After all, he was in the business and he was part of one of the companies who constantly crossed the line of decency; hell, he was one of the photographers who crossed that line practically _all_ the time.

Refocusing back to the display he was silently assessing, it struck him again at how well done the photo had been. The woman's very well endowed chest was thrust slightly forward due to the angle at which her arms were positioned: the right was nestled in the junction between the back of her knee and inner thigh, while the left was behind her. It reminded him of one of the many weird stretches he had seen being done in yoga a class he took to look good for a girl he was seeing at the time.

The crew were finally getting the hell out of the way.

'_Took your sweet time,'_ he thought impatiently, as he willed them to move faster. Slowly as her face started to appear his eyes began to grow. She was, without a doubt, one of the most amazing women he had ever laid his roving eyes on, but that wasn't the only thing that caused his breath to hitch.

"It's her! Holy shit! That's her!" he shot out of his seat to get a better look. His sudden outburst left the other occupants a little worried.

"Uh, Kouga? You feelin' alright there," one of Kouga's underlings, Hakkaku, asked nervously. Kouga, still dazed at his discovery was completely unaware of the fact that all conversation had ceased, and was even more unaware that he had been asked a question.

"Well I'll be damned," he muttered, a huge smirk plastered to his roguishly, charming face. He sniggered then wheeled around, grabbed his coat off the back of the chair and headed right on out of the meeting with out a second thought.

"Hey, Kouga!" Hakkaku shouted after him. He glanced at the man sitting directly across from him and they both rolled their eyes as they shoved away from the table and started after him.

"Wait for us!" Ginta - Kouga's other underling - yelled as the two underlings hurried after him.

The rest of the 'Wolf Advertisement's' employees looked at each other and shook their collective heads, heaved a great sigh, and went back about their business.

* * *

"Wow, Kagome! Is that your third cup of ramen?" Shippo asked while he watched his new roomie with unmasked amazement. He'd never seen a girl eat so much ramen in his life, especially not at breakfast. 

'_She's almost as bad as Inuyasha,'_ he mused as she all but shoved in another mouthful of noodles.

"I know!" she stated between mouthfuls, "I just can't seem to get enough of this stuff!"

"I can see that," Inuyasha commented from his slightly irritated position in the kitchen doorway. "You've eaten half of my stash already and you've only been here three days. We're going to have to find you a job so you can pay me back for all that." She stopped mid chew.

"I'm sorry," could be vaguely discerned over the half-chewed food. She swallowed and put the cup and chopsticks down on the counter, and glanced up at him with big, shiny blue eyes.

"I know that I've been eating practically ever since you let me into your home, I just don't know what's wrong with me. Maybe it's because I wasn't eating enough before and now that I'm surrounded by all this food it's like I'm making up for it." A slight blush tinged her cheeks, "And I promise I will reimburse you for everything!" she hurried to add. "I can even go out today to look for a job."

"Sit down," he stated gruffly when she started to get up. "You don't need to go job huntin' right now, I was just sayin'. Besides, it's Sunday, most places aren't open anyway," she gave him a small smile that made him feel uncomfortable, so he did the only thing he could think of.

"On second thought, restaurants are still open, maybe one of um' is looking for a taste tester. That oughta' be right up your alley," and with that the small smile was gone only to be replaced by a dark and sinister glare.

She huffed and pushed all the way out of her seat, stood tall with her fist balled at her sides, and marched past him. She was on her way to the guest bedroom she was sharing with Shippo when there was a knock on the door.

"Wanna get that?"

It was more of a statement then a question, and her response was something akin to a growl as she detoured to answer the door. Jerking it open, she turned her agitated scowl onto the unsuspecting stranger.

They stood there staring at each other for a few seconds before she finally realised she was glaring, and relaxed her face muscles into the accustomed greeting smile.

"Hi, may I help you?" he was staring at her with his mouth slightly open, eyes wide, hand still poised, ready to knock again.

"Are you ok, sir?" she opened the door wider and started to step out when Inuyasha started coming down the hall with Shippo fast on his heels, hedidn't like the silence and the smell wasn't that great either.

'_A Wolf demon?'_ he also wasn't too thrilled with the idea of a demon being at his door. It was definitely time for him to intervene.

"Are you -" the unknown was cut off.

"What the hell are you doing you stupid girl!" he grabbed her wrist and tugged her behind him as he slammed the door in the wolf youkai's face. Spinning around to face her, he glowered.

"Do you always open the door to strangers!" he demanded

"Wha – you told me to answer it, baka!"

"That's what peep holes were made for, wench! So you can make sure you don't open the door to a stinkin' wolf, or any other stinkin' strangers!"

"Hey!" came from the other side of the door, to which Inuyasha ignored for the moment.

"Well, if that's the way you figure it then it would have been more logical for you to just open the thing, since I obviously can't tell a stranger from a friend because I've only been here for the past few days!" she shouted right back at him. He couldn't really argue with her on that point but that didn't mean he was going to stop arguing all together. He would have continued if some unwanted commentary hadn't interrupted him.

"She's gotta point there, dog breath." Inuyasha pulled the door open while he shoved Kagome further behind him.

"And who the fuck are you!" he spat. The wolf ignored his question as he peeked over the inu hanyou's shoulder at the girl.

"And you are?" Kouga asked in a smooth voice, adding his most winning smile. Kagome blushed at his obvious interest in her.

"I'm Ka – "

"None of your damn business. Now, do you have a fucking reason for being here other then to piss me off?"

Kouga dragged his gaze off of the mystery girl to regard the hanyou in an almost bored way.

"I'm looking for Inuyasha Takashi, which I'm assuming is you," he made a face.

"I don't think we've ever met; I'd of remembered your stench. Now answer my question: Who the fuck are you, and what the fuck are you doing here?" he demanded menacingly.

"Your right, we've never met, and hopefully we'll never have to breathe the same air again. But for right now, I seem to have something that you might be interested in taking a look at."

"The hell I do! This sounds like some sad attempt at making a sale made by a sad excuse for a youkai to me."

"I think that you might be wrong, half-breed."

It was at that time that Kagome figured stepping in was a good idea.

"Why don't we settle this in a civilised manner before your neighbours start making complaints?"

"Great idea," Inuyasha stated sarcastically. "Why don't we take this outside?"

"…Uh, I meant why don't the two of you sit down and discuss it?"

"Keh!" he scoffed. "Like I'm letting _that_ into my place!"

"Well…" she trailed off as she noticed that the stranger was openly 'checking her out', and she blushed a little more. He held his hand out to her and it took her a second to recognise the gesture, he just continued to hold it out expectantly.

"I'm Kouga Carmichael, of Wolf Advertising," they shook, and he decided he would give it a shot. "You have an amazing face Ka…?"

"Oh! Kagome!" she cleared her throat. "Higurashi, Kagome. How do you do?"

"I'm doing just great now that I've met you, Higurashi, Kagome."

"Oh brother," Shippo mumbled in the background.

"Keh!" Inuyasha looked on with disgust.

_'Stinkin' youkai bastard. Thinks he's all smooth with his suit and business card… that's he's handing to her…'_

"Like I was saying, Kagome, you have an amazing face. Why, when you first opened the door I could have sworn you were Kikyo Yhotomoshi," his intent gaze briefly flicked in the hanyou's direction at the mention of the woman's name, then returned.

Inuyasha's heart stopped for a brief second then started again as the momentary shock of hearing _her_ name subsided. His eyes narrowed dangerously, and his jaw clenched painfully.

Why did it have to be so hard just to _hear _that damn name?

"Enough of this shit," he pushed by Kagome so he stood face to face with Kouga. "Start talking."

Kouga looked from Kagome to Inuyasha and back again. He wanted to make a good impression on the girl, and didn't think that talking openly with Inuyasha about what he come to discuss would score him any points. He'd have to choose his words carefully.

"Well, _Inuyasha_ – "

"Mr. Takashi, to you."

"As I was trying to say, _Inuyasha_."

Said hanyou growled.

"I found something that belongs to you, and I figured you might want it back." Kouga reached into the inner pocket of his suit jacket, Inuyasha prepared for the worst, and when all that was produced was his beaten up, old leather wallet, some of the tension drained out of him, not all - but some.

Kouga held it out to him gingerly, looking bored. Inuyasha snatched it up and quickly began searching through it to make sure everything was there, which it wasn't.

'_Fuck! Where the hell is the picture!' _he panicked.

"What the fuck did you do with my money?" he demanded out loud.

"There wasn't any money when I picked it up, someone must have already taken it. Unless there wasn't any in there in the first place…" he gave a big show of looking at Inuyasha's clothes with a marked scrunching of the nose. Inuyasha scowled down at his clothes.

"And just what the fuck is wrong with my clothes, you stinkin' wolf bastard? Not everyone wants to prance around in penguin suits 24/7"

"Do you have a penguin suit, Inuyasha?" Shippo questioned, trying to imagine Inuyasha in something-dressier then worn out jeans, Tee shirts, and flannel. He couldn't, and his child's brain turned his image of Inuyasha into a penguin with puppy ears, and started laughing behind his hands.

"Of course I do, brat," Inuyasha all but barked. He didn't like thinking of the reasons _why _he owned a suit.

"In any event, there's no money in there now, you should just be grateful that I was kind enough to bring it back to you with everything _I_ found in there, there."

"I'm still missing _something_, and I'm pretty sure you're the one who's got it," the menacing looks had entered into the conversation again.

"Well, why don't we all come inside and we can go over exactly what was in your wallet before it was stolen," she grabbed the wolf man's hand and dragged him inside while she pushed Inuyasha in front of her.

"I can walk myself, wench," he growled as he jerked away from her.

"It's good to know you're trained," came from behind him.

"Looks to me like you still gotta ways to go, pup," Inuyasha quipped, indicating to Kagome, and Kouga's hands still linked together.

Kouga just smiled wolfishly and gave Kagome a quick wink before she let go, a blush staining her cheeks as she held it to her chest.

"Spare me," Inuyasha rolled his eyes in abject disgust and pushed past them into the living room.

"Lets make this quick, I want you out of my place as soon as possible."

"Like wise."

"I'll go put on some tea," she bent over to Shippo, and whispered in his ear. "Keep an eye on them. Make sure they don't kill each other while I'm out of the room, kay?" Shippo shook his head rigorously and made himself comfy on the sofa, opposite end of Inuyasha, watching them both intently.

"Could we have some privacy, kid?"

"Nope. Kagome told me to watch you guys so you don't kill each other."

"I guess it won't hurt to discuss what I've come to talk about in front of the midget," Kouga stated arrogantly.

"Hey!"

"Get on with it will you? Where the fuck is the picture?"

"You mean this one?" he pulled it from another pocket. "This picture of Kikyo?"

Inuyasha started to get up.

"How long ago was this taken? A year? 6 months?"

"What's it to you?"

"Just curious, she looks a little different here from the billboards sporting her ad for 'Victoria Secret.'" The hanyou looked a little stricken, but he covered it up quickly.

"I figured it was just a matter of time before they signed her on."

"She's quite the piece of work," he agreed, which pissed off Inuyasha more then anything. He could only imagine what was going through the flea bags mind, and it irked him all the more that every other guy to lay eyes on Kikyo's new ad would be entertaining the same thoughts. He was the only one who was supposed to see her like that…

_'Earth to Inuyasha! She's not yours any more, remember? She can dress and pose any fucking way she wants, and if she wants a bunch of greasy bastards thinking about her that way then that's her own idiot decision.'_

'_Fuck off will you'_ he hissed to himself, and was somewhat relieved when there was no snarky comment.

"Whatever," he dug his claws into the arm of the sofa, adding to the many small hole that were already there. "So I'm guessing that this has something to do with her."

"You guessed correctly."

"Well?"

"Were you two together?"

"How the fuck did you figure I got the picture, bouzo?"

"Well, you do seem to fit the profile of a stalker," he stated.

"The hell I do. Was that all you wanted to know, you nosy bastard, because if it is –"

"I want to meet her."

"You want to meet her? Well good for you. Why the hell should I care?"

"You could – "

"Um, what do you take in your tea, Mr. Carmichael?"

"Some sugar is fine, and you can call me Kouga. No need for formalities," he flashed her his most winning smile.

"Alright," she said with a slight blush. "Inuyasha? You take milk right?" he gave a quick nod. Kagome turned her smile on the kit. "And you Shippo? Would you like some tea too?"

"I'd like some coffee…black, please," he asked in his most grown up voice.

Kouga snorted, Inuyasha grunted, and Kagome wisely hid her grin.

"An excellent choice," she nodded in agreement and then turned to pour the tea and get a mug to fill with some Coke.

As soon as she left the room Inuyasha turned his glare back on the wolf.

"Look, we don't talk anymore so it looks like you're outta luck, not that I would have helped you anyway."

"If you wanted the picture back you would have."

"Keh! It's just a picture."

"So it wouldn't matter to you if I just ripped it up? It is pretty warped from the rain anyway…" he took hold of it by the corners.

Inuyasha tensed, inner panic erupting, _'Damn it!'_

'_Maybe this is what you need, to let someone else do the severing.'_

_'The hell – '_

"You _were_ carrying it around in your wallet though, but, if you're sure," he started to tug.

Inuyasha was just about to lung when Kagome came back in carrying two cups and saucers, with a small pink strip of her tongue sticking out between her lips as she concentrated on not spilling them. It was completely adorable, and Kouga felt a tinge of regret at forgetting his camera. He stood up to take his cup, in the process startling the poor girl who intern, spilled one of the cups of tea on him and the other down her shirt while the rest sloshed on an unsuspecting hanyous head.

"Oh my – I am _so_ sorry! Here!" she shoved the saucers into a slightly stunned Kouga's hand just before she whipped around and dashed into the kitchen to grab some drying cloths, and paper towel.

"You just spilled _hot_ tea all over my head and _I_ don't get a sorry?"

"Here Inuyasha," she shoved one towel at him, and then started dabbing at Kouga's tea soaked shirt, much to his pleasure.

"Damn it! You even managed to get it in my ear!" he stated as he flicked the offended appendage.

Kagome stopped her ministrations on Kouga, and, before she consciously considered the repercussions, she reached over and started dabbing, very gently, at his ear.

Kouga was disappointed by his sudden abandonment, and was also a little jealous of the painfully careful way in which she was treating the dogs ear. But when Kagome started to blow on it, he caught the look on the hanyou's face and started to laugh.

She was touching his ear. She was touching, his slightly scalded, _very_ sensitive, ear.

That was enough to put a shock to his system. Hell, it was enough to shut him up from protesting against it. She was so gentle, her touch feather light, andwhenshe blew... He thought he could feel each individual, downy hair on his ear react to the stimulation as a vicious shudder ran through him. It was about that time that the grating laughter of his new acquaintance permeated the sensation haze he had been thrown into, and his brain started working again.

Embarrassed beyond belief he did what he always did when he was uncomfortable he covered it up with anger. Forcefully flicking his ear out of her light hold he shot up and put some distance between the two of them, and the irritating guffaws.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing! You can't just touch my ears!" he shouted at her, regretting it immediately when her confused eyes turned stricken.

"I can see why," Kouga muttered from behind them. Inuyasha snarled at him.

"And you can get the fuck out, NOW!"

Kouga put his hands up in a placating gesture as the extremely red hanyou started stomping back in his direction.

"I was just about to, your stench is giving me a head ache."

"Why you – "

"It was a pleasure meeting you Kagome," he took her hand in his and kissed the knuckles. "I'll be seeing you soon," the confused look on her face was amusing.

"You owe me a shirt," he stated simply. She blinked at him and then started stuttering about not having any money.

"That's alright, I'm sure we can think of an alternate form of payment," he gave her a brief wink, turned, began to walk away, and looked back over his shoulder.

"Later," waving a salute, he kept right on going with the other three occupants staring after him until they heard the door close.

"Keh! Stinking bastard. Good riddance!"

Inuyasha then realised that he was now partially alone with the girl whom so closely resembled Kikyo, whojust sohappened to be the girl that was fondling his ear only moments ago.

Another shuddered shot through him at the reminder, and he swallowed before he turned to face her again. She had the most complex look on her face that he didn't know if he should laugh or be afraid.

With one eye brow quirked up and the bemused look in her eyes it was pretty comical, until you reached the marked frown…and further down, the crossed arms…then there was the extraordinarily pissed off stance, one couldn't exclude that.

"Ka – " he cleared his throat. "Kagome?"

"And just what was that all about! I was only trying to help you out since you were pouting about it so bad!"

"I was not pouting! And didn't your parents teach you about asking before you just reach over and grab someone's ears? They're not for play, I fucking need to hear out of them!"

_'Fore play?'_

'_Shut it, will you!'_

"If you're going to be a baby about it then fine! I won't ever touch your ears again unless I ask before hand. Satisfied?"

"Yeah, but now there's another problem."

"What's that," she snapped.

"That wolf bastard is going to come sniffin' around here again, and its all your fault!"

"Wah – I did – " It suddenly occurred to her that she was the reason the wolf bast – youkai, would be back.

She thrust her chin in the air, "I'm sure it will just be the one time, and besides, doesn't he still have that picture of yours?" she smirked at the dumbfounded look plastered to his face.

"Don't look so surprised, I'm not deaf you know. And just for future reference, you might want to talk a little bit lower next time you're discussing blackmail, if you don't want anyone within a 30 mile radius to hear you."

Inuyasha hadn't heard what she said after she not so subtly made him aware of the fact that the sleaze bag, Kouga, still had his picture.

'_Fuck. I'm so screwed! I was so distracted I didn't even notice he still had it. God, that girl is a walking catastrophe.'_

'_Yeah, a walking catastrophe with some very skilled fingers…'_

'_Lay off it will you! I swear you're worse than that pervert.'_

There was another problem: Miroku. Ever since Inuyasha had made the mistake of letting it slip that he was letting a girl stay with him, Miroku had been on his ass about it, asking stupid Miroku questions, wanting to meet her…

_'I can't get a fucking break…'_

And, it just so happened that when he came out of his inner musings he was staring at her breasts, which were covered with tea so the material was not only clinging to them but also provided a nice view of her blue, lacy bra.

_'And this is what happens when you go without for such a long time, everything becomes sexual…'_

'_Oh hell, just look away, you've already had a breast incident with her before and that was just scary.'_

Making a huge effort to refocus on a different part of her anatomy (namely her face), he was finding it rather difficult with all the heavy breathing going on. And when his eyes finally did obey him he was met by her flushed face and angry eyes that were also proving to be rather sexy.

'_What's she saying?'_

Focusing on the mouth wasn't helping, so he forced his abused ears to start working.

"…rude, and selfish, jerk!"

"Keh! Whatever, wench, whatever." He stormed out of the living room making a b-line to his bedroom while she huffed and stomped over to the guestroom leaving Shippo, still sitting on the sofa, utterly confused.

"Grown ups make no sense…" he sighed and went into the kitchen, grabbed the mug of Coke and went to find his crayons.

* * *

AHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I love this…tee hee hee! Oh the ears! 

ok, i know i haven't updated in a while, which i apologise for, but it seems that the layout for updates has changed since then, and, as i tend to get massively confussed over things like that, i ended up posting another chapter from another story as this chapter...so, i'm going to get rid of that one. i just wanted to let you guys know what was going on incase you got two updates for this story, and where like "huh?" and...yeah...

anyway, hope you like it because i know i do!

tsuki miko


	4. Chapter 4

**Misconceptions**

**Chapter 4**

Grabbing the toilet seat as another wave of nausea hit, she groaned before the viscous cycle of vomiting began all over again. She had been hugging the toilet like a long lost friend for the last 10 minutes while the completely unexpected case of the 'oh-my-god-I'm-gonna hurls' ran it's course.

Kagome was not impressed.

She hadn't been sick in years and this time around she didn't even feel in the slightest bit funny before hand. One minute she was hungrily eyeing the cup of Ramen Inuyasha was woofing down, and then the next she had to make a mad dash to the bathroom before the toast and eggs she had already eaten ended up on the floor.

'_I hate throwing up…' _she thought bitterly as she felt her forehead to see if she was warm.

'_Nope, just a little clammy, maybe the eggs were bad? But they didn't taste bad, or smell, or look bad...'_

'_It's probably all the Ramen you've been gorging on, and this is you're body saying, "I don't think so."'_

"Kagome? Are you ok?" Shippo slowly opened the bathroom door to take a quick peek in on her. She definitely didn't sound ok, but after he caught a lovely glimpse of her up chucking, he quickly shut the door turning an interesting shade of green.

"Is she ok, brat?" Inuyasha sniggered at the look on Shippo's face.

"Why don't you go in there and see for yourself, jerk." Kagome decided to make an interesting noise and all that was left of the poor kitsun was a blur.

"Wimp," Inuyasha muttered right before he reopened the bathroom door. Luckily for him Kagome wasn't throwing up at that exact moment in time so he strode over and stood by the toilet with his arms crossed, scrunching his nose up at the smell.

"You sick?"

She flushed the toilet and shot him a long-suffering glare.

"How did you guess? Was it the mad dash to the bathroom or me tossing my cookies?" she stayed seated but whipped her sweaty bangs out for her eyes and the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand.

"I don't think I have ever, in my life been more glad that I cleaned a bathroom," she stated, her hand moving to clutch her stomach.

"Yeah, and why's that?"

"I think I would be throwing up ten times more if this toilet were as disgusting as it was yesterday. Is it a problem that all guys have or is it just you?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" he was beginning to lose the miniscule ounce of pity he had for the girl gripping the can.

"Aim."

"Aim?

"Yes, aim."

"Why you – of course I know how to aim, wench! Lets not forget that there is also an eight year old living here too! Aim my ass… and here I came in to see if you needed a fucking hand, and you accuse me of not knowing how to hold my – forget it!" Inuyasha started to stomp out when Kagome swung back around to face her new found 'friend', Monsieur Toilette.

He snorted, grabbed a wash cloth, put it under some cold water and tossed it to her when she pulled her head out of the bowl.

"Clean yourself up, you look like crap."

She gave him the customary glare but smiled a little when she thought he couldn't see.

'_You saw it yourself, she was in dire need of that cloth.'_ Inuyasha grumbled trying to save himself from whatever the inner voice had to say.

No such luck.

'_Sure, sure, whatever you say…'_

He ignored that last inner comment and went looking for the kit. They were going shopping of all God for saken things. His shift at the construction site didn't start until later, and he figured that the girl should have some new clothes, since the only ones she had were dirty, and frankly, beginning to smell. He had been preparing himself all morning for the outing.

'No, that doesn't make you look fat.'

'No, you do not have big thighs.'

'No, we are not going to Fifth Avenue,'

'No, you cannot borrow my credit card,'

'Put on some more clothes, you look like a hooker,'

'We are leaving now, and that's _final!_'

_'Do I look like a fucking doll to you?'_

Things had started to get a little out of hand so he figured a nice cup of Ramen was all he needed to calm his nerves, that was when the girl decided to start puking her guts out.

He sighed and found Shippo starring intently into the sink.

"What the hell are you doin' " he asked loudly, making the boy jump.

"Don't you know it's not nice to sneak up behind people?" he grumbled.

"Yeah, but I don't consider you a person, more like a pain in my – "

"Eh – Ehem?"

"Keh! Whatever wench. If you're finished puking come on, we haven't got all day, I need to be at work at 3, so lets haul ass."

"Is it imperative that you stick a swear word in everything that comes out of your mouth?"

"I don't think you're in any position to be insulting me since _I_ am the one taking you to buy some new fucking clothes." He smirked when she bit her tongue on whatever it was she was going to say. That lasted all of 3 seconds.

"You don't need to do this for me, I do have my own clothes you know."

"Yeah I know, I can still smell them from here," he jerked his head back in the direction of the apartment.

They had just reached the elevator and already he knew that it was going to be a long day.

"I wash my clothes!" she blurted indignantly.

"Well, the two different sets you have are beginning to acquire that 'lived in' smell, so stick a fucking sock in it and let me get you some new clothes before you stink me out of my apartment!"

"Inuyasha, you're so insensitive…" Shippo drawled from beside Kagome.

"Feh!" he shot the girl a cursory glance and had to hold in the chuckle that threatened to erupt. She was red faced, pouting, had her arms crossed, the whole sha-bang. She was now moving away from him with Shippo shuffling along with her. It was pretty funny but at this particular point in time, he wisely kept his mouth shut, which was a miracle in itself. He had insulted her enough for this morning, and besides, they still had the rest of the afternoon.

By the time they were out of the elevator and shoving their way through the bustling crowd of pedestrians, Kagome had decided that Inuyasha was maybe a little bit right. And it was very kind of him to offer to buy her some new clothes, even though he managed to insult her with basically everything that passed through his lips. Besides she was starting to feel much better. The strange bought of nausea had passed, she was even beginning to feel a little hungry, and of course she was going shopping.

Oh how she loved to shop.

Of course she knew that there were limits. In the brief two months on her own she learned to manage her money the hard way. She was by no means frivolous with what little she had, but going from being able to have anything and everything she could have wanted to having next to zilch in comparison… she had to make some hard choices. Clothes were one of them, she had picked up a few of the more important articles of clothing such as undergarments from a department store, but the extra pair of pants and the few shirts came from a second hand store, "Big Eddies Once Around" to be exact. She really didn't want to go back in there. It was incredibly depressing, and made her realize that there were still people out there who were ten times worse off then she. She had witnessed a teenage girl steal a shirt from a bin that read 'Shirts $1.00'. Kagome rubbed her arms, trying to force the goose bumps away. That could have been her…

"Earth to Kagome! Come in Kagome!" Shippo tugged on her sleeve. "Inuyasha just asked if you wanted to go in here," he pointed to the extremely girly looking store. She giggled a little, shaking off the remaining thoughts.

"You guys sure you want to be seen in "Jillies Little Jems"?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

"Look, I ain't askin' again," he threatened.

"Fine, fine. This looks like a great place to start!" She grabbed hold of the two boys' hands and dragged them in.

"Wow…everything is so sparkly," Shippo commented.

"You can say that again, kid."

"Everything is so – "

"It's a friggin' figure of speech. Knock it off," he hissed, swiping at the beaming child.

"This is gorgeous!" Kagome exclaimed as she carefully took the dress off the rack inspected it, then held it up against her, shooting the squabbling boys a huge grin. It definitely was a beautiful dress: partially silk, the deep burgundy seemed to shimmer with every movement. The low neckline hung loosely with the gathered material, and glittered with bits of sequence. One thing she liked most about the dress was the sleeves; though they were slit down the middle, exposing her upper arm, they would cover just enough, and the gauzy material added that extra bit of femininity. And then, of course, there was the back. Although it came together at the top around the shoulders, the dress was back less right down to about the lower back.

It would have been absolutely stunning, and she knew a certain someone would have had to agree with her if she were to show up wearing it…

'_Come on now Kagome, you know that's not an option anymore,'_ the voice that plagued her mind whispered, trying to soothe her, using the same tone of voice her mother would have used.

Inuyasha had to agree that it was indeed a beautiful dress, and he had no doubt in his mind that it would look phenomenal on her, but when the hell would she ever wear such a dress? He highly doubted it would be something she would strut around in while she was scrubbing the toilet.

He had to be the responsible one here, she had told him that she had come from a very wealthy family, and he didn't doubt that she was used to getting every article of clothing she laid eyes on. He also had to think about the price. Not that he had to worry too much, he had enough, but the girl needed to learn how to manage money so when she finally landed a job she would know what to do with it and not end up out on her ass again.

He was just about to make the comment when she smiled down at herself as she watched it sway with her hips. She sighed and put it back on the rack and headed back over towards them, the smile on her lips somewhat sad.

"I don't think this place has what I'm looking for," she said as she reached over to grab Shippo's tiny hand, which was currently getting tangled up in a beaded top. "Let's go to a different one."

"You didn't even try it on," Inuyasha stated while he brushed passed her to check the price. It was reasonable enough.

"Honestly Inuyasha, don't you think that if I were to wear that to a job interview they would think I'm a bit crazy?"

"Depends on what kinda interview it is," he didn't realize he'd said that one out loud.

"_Inuyasha…"_ she hissed, colour blossoming over her cheeks.

"Right, let's get outta here then." He passed her and headed out of the store.

Kagome - still struggling with the blush - was pulled along by Shippo who insisted that they needed to hurry because Inuyasha wouldn't wait up for them.

The next few stores passed without much incident, and she finally decided on a jean skirt, a few plain t-shirts, and a white and black blouse. Things were going relatively well. The fighting was minimal, she didn't spend hours looking at the clothes, and not once did she ask him if she looked fat in any of her selections. He was also very impressed with how thrifty she was being, definitely not what he was expecting, they even stopped into a shoe store and they all walked away with something new. They ended up at a mall where they figured taking a break would be a really good idea since Shippo had started whining about being hungry.

"Here, eat this and quit belly-aching will ya, you're giving me a head ache." Inuyasha shoved the ice cream at the kit who snatched it up eagerly.

"Watch the fingers," he scolded, though there was no anger behind the words, he was actually in a pretty good mood all things considering. He allowed the corners of his mouth to quirk as he watched the boy shove half the thing in his mouth, then he turned around and handed Kagome the ice cream he had bought for her. She was looking at the kit with a slight smile of her own while her eyes almost shone with an emotion he didn't really have to guess at. Hadn't he seen something very similar on his mother's own face when she used to looked at him? Strangely enough this thought of his mother didn't make him feel as sad as he would have expected.

"Here, take it before it starts melting," he said waving it in front of her. She took it and smiled up at him following him with her eyes as he sat down on the opposite side of the food court table.

"What?" he asked a little nervous, that smile was still on her face.

"Thank you Inuyasha, for everything. And I don't just mean today, for letting me stay with you and Shippo and for letting me eat you almost out of house and home," she blushed and looked away.

Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably.

"No big deal," he hoped it sounded casual enough.

"Not to you maybe, but to me it's a huge deal, now take my thanks and stop debating it." She looked like she was about to do something, thought better of it and then said, "you're ice cream is dripping."

At the same moment he felt something-cold start to trickle down over his knuckle. He tore his eyes away from the girl and dropped them down to the offending ice cream scowled, and then licked it off.

Kagome giggled and began to lick at her own ice cream.

_'You have got to keep those kind of urges under wraps there Kags, maybe it would have been ok before but that was then and this is now. Besides, that's no way to behave towards someone you hardly know.'_ The voice that plagued her mind reprimanded.

'_Why do you think I stopped? It's just hard sometimes, he looks so much like…well, he's _familiar_ and I get caught up and forget that I've only known Inuyasha for a few days. Give me a break will you.'_ She scanned the area around the food court trying to get her mind off of _him _and spied a store that she was in dire need of visiting.

'Hidden Treasures,' was a lingerie store, which appeared to be having a sale.

'_Yes! Oh what I wouldn't do for a new bra and panties...'_ she casually glanced down at her chest and gave a resigned sigh.

'_You could at least call them underwear, you sound like a child. Not that, that surprises me,'_ it added.

So, she was about to lean over and lick up the drip she had spied making it's way down Inuyasha's cone. Big deal, she stopped herself in time to avoid that embarrassing situation, and so she decided to ignore the comment and began debating over if she should just ask Inuyasha out right to go or if sneaking off would be the way to go.

_'Earth to Kagome, he's got the money sharp stuff, so you have no choice.'_

Kagome mulled over this, and as embarrassing as it was going to be she had no choice but to ask him to come in with her, unless… _'Unless he has some extra money on him…'_ she thought excitedly. In what she hoped was a casual tone, she asked him.

"Hey Inuyasha," he looked up at her. "I saw a store on the way up here and was wondering if maybe you wouldn't mind lending me some of the money you have set aside so I can go take a look and not have to run back to get you. So I don't interrupt your guys' lunch." She added.

"We're just eating ice cream, Kagome," Shippo said, toting a perplexed look on his little face. Inuyasha's eyebrows rose up.

"What's all this about?"

"_Nothing_, I just didn't want to drag you guys into another boring girly store, that's all. Plus you need to go to work soon and you've been on your feet all day, I figured you might want to be off them for a little while longer." She tried desperately, praying to anyone that she didn't sound as desperate as she thought she did.

"How do I know you won't just take off with my money, _assuming_ I give it to you."

That earned him a very interesting look.

"You seriously think I would take your money and run?" the hurt on her face was rather shocking, and Inuyasha's eyes grew round when he noticed that there were tears gathering in them.

"Wha? Wait a sec. What are you – are you _crying_?" he stuttered dumbfounded.

"You don't trust me at all do you?" her voice now beginning to sound choked up.

"I barely even know you, how the hell can I trust you after you being in my apartment for all of 5 days?"

"Well I – I…" '

_'Why are you getting so worked up over such a stupid thing anyway?'_

'_Well, I mean why doesn't he? I haven't stolen anything, I've promised to pay him back for all of his kindness.'_

"Shit," Inuyasha hissed as he tried frantically to yank some napkins from the dispenser.

_'Where the hell does this girl come up with all this bull shit?'_

"Here," he shoved them into her hand. "Look, damnit, don't cry ok. You can have the money if you just stop with all this crying."

Kagome peeked up through spiky eyelashes, face beet red.

_'Well this is utterly embarrassing.'_

_'No kidding!'_

Getting her ridiculous sniffling under control she dabbed at her eyes with the napkin.

"Look, I…" her attempted apology ended there when she caught the very, extremely annoyed look on the hanyous pouting face.

Whatever it was that had her so touchy that day was completely beyond her but that look was the equivalent of waving something red at a charging bull. Shoving out of the chair she stood up and began to give him her two cents worth.

"All I was trying to do was save you from having to be dragged into a – a – " she pointed viciously at the lingerie store because for some reason the word just didn't want to come out. "_That place!_ So I could get a new bra so I'm not popping out everywhere and some decent panties, but _noooooo_…"

The food court was silent and it appeared as though all eyes were on them.

_'I don't…I said that - out loud?'_

'_I'm afraid so…'_

Shippo face was about the same colour as his hair and was slouched so far down in his chair that he was almost sliding off. Inuyasha on the other hand had his jaw almost touching the floor and was toting a whole new shade of red.

Mortified, Kagome slowly sat back down and choked out a nervous little laugh, painstakingly avoiding any eye contact. After a minute of silence, the onlookers went back to what ever they were doing before the interesting little spectacle occurred. Kagome chanced a peek only to find Inuyasha opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water.

"Um…Inu – ya – sha?" she tried tentatively.

"K-keh!" and with that he stood up and started on his daily storming off routine. Kagome quickly jumped up, grabbed Shippo by the hand and bounded after him.

"Inuyasha, will you wait a second?" he made no attempt to show that he had heard her.

"Inuyasha, I'm – "

"Here," he whipped around and shoved a wad of bills in her hand. "I gotta get to work."

Kagome just stood there watching him get swallowed up by the crowd for what seemed like an hour before Shippo broke the trance she seemed to have fallen in.

"Kagome, maybe you should put that money away before someone tries to take it?" she looked down at him a little bewildered. He was blushing.

"You're a pretty easy target."

She looked at the money in her hand, "Oh, right," and stuffed it in her pocket.

"Come on Shippo, why don't we head back and I'll make us some real lunch, ok!"

Although he could see through her beaming smile and overly bright tone, he smiled back, took her hand and let her take him back to the closest thing he could call home.

* * *

"Stupid wench…" Inuyasha muttered for at least the thousandth time that day as he made his way back to his apartment. He paused briefly in front of a lingerie shop, got mad all over again and started elbowing people out of his way, and didn't stop when he heard someone call his name.

'_For the love of – damn it!'_ he just kept on trucking as he heard the degrading voice closing in.

"Inuyasha!" a hand gripped his shoulder, which he viciously shrugged off. His hostility went unnoticed by the unwanted company.

"You certainly are hard to get a hold of, you know that?" the newcomer huffed out. Inuyasha just kept on ignoring him.

"Listen, I was thinking that we should go down to the old pub and have a few drinks, just like old times. What do you say?"

"I say, get the fuck away from me Miroku, before I have to make you eat sidewalk."

"Come now Inuyasha," Miroku the epitome of calmness tried to placate the seething hanyou. "It was only a suggestion. Besides you look like you could use a few drinks and I know I could, so stop being a spoil-sport and come on."

"Um, let me think about it… no!" he hurried on trying to get away from the nuisance that was some how his boss.

"You know Inuyasha, I have been trained in the art of Buddhism, and was considered to be an ample student and a fair listener," he maintained to the back of Inuyasha's bobbing head, which stopped and was now coming back towards him.

"What don't you understand about "NO" and "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME"?"

"Ah, but you're back here now so lets not waste anymore time, eh?" it was Miroku's turn to turn and walk away. He had little to no doubt that the surly hanyou would soon follow him, then again, this particular hanyou was not one you could count on for consistency. He just prayed that Inuyasha would follow because drinking alonewas never a good time, besides, he needed a place to stay since his now ex-girlfriend had kicked him out of their place… at least that was what he was going to tell Inuyasha. He could easily find another apartment, or stay in a hotel for that matter but he was very intrigued by this mystery girl Inuyasha mentioned, and wanted to meet her. And he was a free man now, who knew if one thing would lead to another?

Coming out of his musing he was mildly surprised to see Inuyasha, trudging along side him with a scowl that would put a child to shame.

'_Now, if I can just get him to drink enough so that he requires my assistance home…'_ he stole a quick glance at the scowling hanyou taking a mental note on how strung up he seemed to be.

'_This may be easier then I thought….'_

* * *

Hehehehehehehhehehehe! Oh Miroku, what a clever fellow you are, you are. What a clever fellow you are.

Anyway….

Hopefully this'll make up for the ridiculously long time it took for me to update. Sorry 'bout that.

Til next time!

Tsuki miko


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Inebriation

Kagome had gone over the happenings of the day at least a hundred times and they still made not one bit of sense.

_'What is wrong with me? I'm never this irritable... '_

That was it! She was irritable, she was nauseous, but she wanted to eat everything in sight...

She guiltily put aside the jar of peanut butter she was absently eating from and carefully deposited the spoon into the dishwasher, trying to keep the noise at a minimum because Shippo had already gone to bed.

She looked at the timer on the microwave.

_'11:37, where _is_ Inuyasha? He should have been back by now. Well at least I_ think_ he should be back by now.' _

He had been back well before 9pm on the few nights that he worked before so what was taking him so long tonight? It occurred to her that she really didn't know that much about her rescuer other then the fact that he was in a perpetual mood, he worked construction, and had the uncanny ability of rubbing people the wrong way. But, in light of all that, he was decent enough to allow two street urchins to share his home and food without any ulterior motives. He certainly was something else, _what_ exactly she wasn't sure but, deep down as much as he tried to hide it, she could tell that he was a genuinely good person.

Sighing, Kagome was brought right back to her original musings; she still didn't know much about Inuyasha, like did he have many friends? He hadn't received many phone calls since she had been there, and aside from Kouga no one else had shown up at the apartment.

_'__Maybe he hangs out with his co-workers, and perhaps this was their designated night to go out and unwind, and with her here to take care of Shippo he decided to join them?' _

_'You're getting as bad as Shippo with his 'what-ifs' besides, I can't really picture Inuyasha out at one of the night clubs.' _

Not only because she knew that youkai senses were way above normal but the mental image of Inuyasha getting down in his jeans and plaid shirt... it sent her into a silent fit of helpless giggles. One of her friends from school had been madly in love with the American actor John Travolta, and "Saturday Night Fever," was one of her favorites.

The giggling slowly subsided to be replaced by a slightly bemused smile. She hadn't talked to any of her friends from high school in quite a while, and the fact that she hadn't really spent that much time with them due to her then blossoming relationship out side of school during their last year suddenly made her feel very guilty.

_'Let's add emotional to that list and i think it's quite obvious what is wrong with me...'_

"Aunt Flow is coming for her monthly visit."

_'Well, semi-monthly' _she thought to herself. Her "aunts visits" had never really kept to a schedule like all of her girlfriends' but her mother had told her that she was the same way as a teenager until she started taking the pill, which was something that Kagome just wasn't interested in. She had nothing against taking birth control pills, she just preferred to let her body do what it was naturally inclined to do. And aside from that, a certain someone didn't really agree with taking pharmaceuticals unless it was absolutely necessary.

_'And we're back to _him _again. Come on Kags, you really need to stop dwelling on the past because there is no future there, you know that; deep down you know that.' _

Maybe she did but she couldn't help but hold onto that small bit of hope that maybe this was just an obstacle for her, for _them_, to over come and things would right themselves in the end. It was just in her nature.

Coming out of her maudlin thoughts she glanced at the timer again. It was a few minutes after twelve.

Making a snap decision, she peeked in on Shippo, smiling at his sprawled form, grabbed her light coat put on her new sneakers, nabbed the extra set of keys Inuyasha had scrounged up for her and locked the door behind her. As she got into the elevator she reassured herself that Shippo was perfectly safe, she was only going down the street and she would be back in 10 minutes max.

_'The stove is off, the hall light is on in case he wakes up, the door is locked, the windows are closed...'_

_'He'll be fine so try to stop worrying. Just think about this as the perfect opportunity for you to pick up your feminine needs product. Shippo is asleep, Inuyasha is out,__therefore no embarrassing explanations need to be given to either of them. It's a win win situation!' _her inner voice pepped.

She still felt a little guilty about the embarrassing episode at the mall, and to sneak off in the middle of the night just so she could pick up tampons without anyone knowing...

She was being silly, of course Inuyasha knew about that kind of stuff, she just felt a little weird talking about it to him, not knowing him that well and all.

She turned the corner and gave a sigh of relief when she saw the big florescent 24/7 sign on the side of the drugstore building.

Smiling at the cashier when she walked in she made her way to the designated section, made her selection and was headed over to the pick Inuyasha up some Ramen ( it was the least she could do) when she heard some kind of commotion at the front of the store. Curious, she started to head back when she heard someone curse, something crash, and the clerks indignant shout. Moving faster to see if something was really wrong and if she could help she ran smack dab into a very solid chest and would have fallen on the very solid floor if the chest didn't come equipped with some very solid arms. Looking up to apologize to the stranger she was dumb struck.

* * *

Inuyasha and Miroku weaved their precarious way down the street, Inuyasha sniggered when Miroku stumbled off the curb only for him to walk into a telephone pole.

"I dunno why I ever listen to anything that comes out of your stupid mouth, Miroku." Inuyasha groused as he held onto his forehead where the pole had hit him.

_'I coulda taken it down with one swipe,'_ he thought, making the motion and coming precariously close to giving Miroku a good gash of his own.

"Might I suggest you watch where you're swinging those things, you could have hit something that i can't live without," Miroku smiled vaguely at his own lecherous insinuation.

Inuyasha just grunted, "I think you'd manage, maybe it would be an improvement."

He was about to start laughing at the fake "wounded" look on Miroku's face when he thought he caught a whiff Kagome.

_'And what would she be doing out at this time of day...?'_

_'I think you mean night,' _his conscience drawled.

"Yeah, yeah, night, whatever."

"Are you talking to me Inuyasha? If so, I have no idea what your talking about, but i will agree with you that it is indeed the night and we are going in the opposite direction of your apartment, care to share?"

Yes, Miroku was slightly inebriated, yes, he was having some trouble walking in a straight line but he was also a man on a mission, one that he didn't want to end in the drunk tank or being beaten black and blue because Inuyasha was volatile, rash, and apparently unable to hold his liquor.

They had taken the cab to Inuyasha's apartment from the pub, but Inuyasha decided he wanted Ramen, which wasn't that big of a surprise since that was practically the only thing the hanyou brought for his lunch. But tonight not any kind would do and he revealed to Miroku that the mystery woman staying with him had eaten the last one of that specific kind that very morning.

The look on his face had been priceless, and Miroku was hard pressed not to burst out laughing at the petulant scowl lest he ruin his chance at meeting this mystery woman, so he had indulged the hanyou.

"I can smell her, what the _hell_ does she think I'm doing!" the last spoken more to himself.

"What _are_ you doing? I don't think that's very sanitary..." crinkling his nose, he watched as Inuyasha got down on all fours and started sniffing one of the many crud embedded sidewalks of New York City.

Growling low in his throat when he finally picked up the direction of her scent, Inuyasha bounded off leaving Miroku to his stunned thoughts. He had never really seen Inuyasha as anything other then just another person, sure he knew he was a half demon, that he possessed incredible strength, which he had seen him use before but he had never actually witnessed him _act_ like a demon. It was rather amusing but he didn't have any time to stand around laughing about it. This particular dog demon had a bad temper on a good day, and tonight he was muttering to himself, saying things backward, and sniffing the ground; things weren't looking good.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..."

Miroku took off at an unsteady run hoping to catch up.

* * *

_'The Drug Store? What the hell does she need sooooo badly that she'd go out _alone _in the middle of the fucking _night_! Doesn't she know that this city is fucking dangerous! Full of perverts,'_

_'Like Miroku, who you left back there'_

_'And crazy drunken bastards.'_

_'Like you...'_

"I'm not drunk," he muttered as he strode into the store shooting the poor cashier a death glare right before he walked into the sunglasses rack next to the check out.

"SHIT!"

_'Maybe a little,'_ was all he would admit to himself as he pushed the cashier away when he tried to offer him a hand.

"Hey man!" was all the guy got out before Inuyasha took off in the direction of Kagome's scent.

Not expecting Kagome to come flying around the corner, she caught him as off guard as he did her. Grabbing her arms to steady her all the reprimands he had a mind to tell her died on his lips when she flashed her startled eyes up to meet his. Cheeks flushed with embarrassment, mouth rounded in surprise, her eyes widened slightly as recognition passed over them.

"Wha...?"

With the passing of the moment Inuyasha found his voice.

"And what exactly do you think you're doing here?" his voice low, threatening.

"Well I... I was... wait, wait, wait! What are _you_ doing here!" her earlier upset coming back with a vengeance.

"I waited for you all day so i could apologize and you didn't even call to say that you were going out!" She paused in her tirade and took a deep breath, her eyes narrowing as it became perfectly clear where he had gone after his shift.

The slight pinkening of his cheeks wasn't from embarrassment, nor was the smell of alcohol.

_'Neither is that dangerous looking grin he's sporting,' _her conscience interjected. _'You may want to watch what you say to him while he's been drinking.'_

It was sound enough advice and although she didn't think that he would purposely hurt her, being under the influence might make him forget the fact that he was still considerably stronger then she.

"I can tell that you've been drinking," not liking the way his smile grew enough for a fang to slip over his lip. She took a step back, and with more nerve then she felt at the moment, pointedly looked at his hands which were still holding onto her arms.

"You can let go," she stated, and for breath taking second she actually thought that he wasn't going to comply.

"Keh!" he dropped his hands and turned to the side to glare at the shelves of goods.

"I was out, end of story, that still doesn't account for why the hell you thought it would be a good idea for _you _to go out!" he spun around to face her. All traces of any kind of grin were gone and she had to stop herself from taking a step back from the livid look on his face.

"I had to pick up a few things, and it's only a five minute walk, i didn't think that - " he cut her off.

"That's right, you didn't think because no one in their right mind would go out _by themselves_ at this hour! You don't know what kind of people are lurking around places like this!"

"The only person I think that would be any cause for concern in a "place like this" is you!"

She bent down to snatch up her purchases to be and, taking the advantage of his speechlessness, side stepped him, making a bee line to the check out. The cashier was still busy putting the glasses rack back to rights when she approached.

"Miss, is that guy bothering you? I can call security if you want?" he looked at her hopefully.

Kagome peeked over her shoulder to see where Inuyasha was and was disappointed to see him walking towards her with a dark scowl. Turning back to the cashier she shook her head.

"That wont be necessary, but thank you for your concern." She set the items down and shoved her hand in her pocket to pull out some money.

She could feel Inuyasha's eyes boring into her back as he got closer and she silently willed the boy to hurry it up when Inuyasha swiped the bag out to the cashiers hand and grabbed her arm pulling her towards the exit.

Thoroughly fed up with this day of ridiculous situations she tore her arm out of Inuyasha's grasp only to have her elbow connect with someones... something, which in turn doubled up and began to wheeze.

Inuyasha seemed to find this turn of events highly amusing, Kagome just glared at him as she bent down to help the man up.

"Are you alright? I am so, so sorry, sir. Is the anything I can do for you?"

The stranger gave a breathy laugh, "I'm sure i can think of something."

She sighed with relief and was about to tell him to name it when she felt a not entirely unfamiliar sensation on her backside.

She grit her teeth and let the stranger have it.

Palm stinging, face aflame she turned and started to head back the way she came.

"KAGOME!"

"Ah, so it's Kagome! What a lovely name for such a lovely creature."

"Stuff it Miroku!" Inuyasha shot over his shoulder. Kagome stopped in her tracks.

"You know that man! Oh of course you do, all you guys know each other, HENTAI!!"

Her voice was still reverberating off the buildings when Miroku shambled over to Inuyasha holding onto his stomach.

"Hentai... that means pervert right? Hmmm... I guess that would be expected of me but she insinuated that both of us were perverts. What exactly have you been doing with this fine woman that would warrant such an accusation?"

Miroku was expecting the usual "keh!", maybe even a "fuck you" but when he chanced a look Inuyasha was looking perplexed, his face a little brighter then the alcohol could account for.

"I thought she let that go..."

"Inuyasha, I must say that I am shocked. Might I inquire as to what you did to the girl?"

"It's not what you're thinking, _monk,_ it was a misunderstanding, and she should know that by now. Oi, Kagome!"

And he was off again.

Miroku sighed, _'left behind again, this is most definitely was not my night.'_

He bent down and picked up the paper bag Inuyasha had tossed aside in his eagerness to catch up with Kagome.

"Kagome..." She was spirited, he would give her that.

_'Spirited, firm... with a fairly effective right hand.'_ he lifted his fingers to his still stinging cheek, and grinned letting his thoughts go where they would. He absently reached into the bag and pulled out the first item.

_'Guess Inuyasha got his noodles, hopefully that will pacify him.'_

His hand fell on a small box, which he pulled out of the bag thinking they were crackers, something he might snack on while he walked.

He stared at the box, then slowly put it back in the bag.

_'I think that it would be in all of our best interests if I get this to Inuyasha as fast as possible.'_

* * *

Well, heh heh... long time no write?

Sorry everyone, I'm going to try to work on this story and (fingers crossed) finish it at some not too distant point in the future.

Hope you enjoyed it! It was fun getting back into the story, figuring out new and embarrassing situations to put the poor characters in, and what better embarrassing situation is there then feminine issues?

Until next time!

Tsuki Miko


	6. Chapter 6

**Smooth Operator **

**Chapter 6**

She honestly thought that she was going to be sick. She closed her eyes and prayed that this night was soon going to come to an end, an end that didn't involve being peeled off the pavement.

Inuyasha had caught up with her in no time and before she could begin arguing with him again he scooped her up in his arms, launched himself off the ground and began jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

She felt an unwelcome plummeting sensation, and without really meaning to she tightened her grip around Inuyasha's neck and buried her face in his shirt, he in turn tightened his hold on her as he landed on the pavement in front of his apartment building. Taking a quick glance around to make sure there were no suspicious looking people hanging around before he let go of her he was a little surprised when she didn't loosed her grip right away.

"Kagome, we're here. You _can_ let go now." She shook her head further in to his shirt.

He smiled a little bashfully, normally he wouldn't have done something as risky as taking to the skies when he was "under the influence" but he just wanted to get her off the streets before something else happened. He slowly loosened his hold on her legs and let them slide to the ground while he supported the rest of her weight, his arms still wrapped around her shoulders.

_'It might be a good idea for us to let go of her right _now_ before something happens...'_

_'Yeah, like I kiss her...'_ He felt slightly dizzy at the thought, and actually lost his balance when she viciously shoved him back, barely making it to the small strip of grass to the right of the apartment building before she dropped down and began throwing up.

"What the HELL!" Inuyasha bellowed from his position on the pavement.

_'She's puking again'_

_'I can fucking see that!'_

_'Good thing you didn't try to kiss her 'cuz that would have just been nasty...'_

He had nothing to argue about there so he just sat still for a few more seconds waiting for his own bout of nausea to pass.

_'Damn that Miroku! The bastard probably had this all planned out.'_ He smiled inwardly as he recalled the slap he got from Kagome.

_'Pervert got what he deserved,'_ he looked around again to see if said pervert had caught up to them yet. _'Good, I hope he gets arrested for drunk and disorderly, he'd probably get slapped with indecent exposure too.'_

He finally pushed himself up and made his way over to see how Kagome was faring. By the sounds of it she was done throwing up, hopefully for good, and was sitting back on her heels by the time he reached her, and glaring at him by the time he held out his hand to help her up.

"I can get up by myself, _and_ I can _walk _by myself in case you haven't noticed!"

"I was doing you a favor _wench_, the least you could do is say thanks!"

"Thanks! _THANKS!_ For acting like a drunken fool or for scaring me senseless and making me hurl peanut butter!"

Kagome was seething at this point, not even caring that she had just thrown up and continued to yell in the idiotic hanyous face despite her rancid breath.

"I was protecting you, you stupid bitch, an - " he cut himself off quickly and went to grab the front doors without looking back or waiting for her.

She was stunned by his confession. She hadn't actually considered his actions to be anything other then a nuisance, and for him to admit such a thing, even if it was unintentional, it touched her in such an unexpected way that she felt a little breathless.

Maybe it was the reminder of another place and time when another made the same promise.

He thought she had been fully asleep, but she was still teetering on the brink, feeling warm and safe and loved. He had whispered it into her hair, making her smile slightly into her pillow before she drifted off into a dreamland full of hope and beauty.

Coming back to herself, she wiped at the corner of her eye where a tear had slipped out and began thinking of an apology for Inuyasha.

_'Why the hell do you have to go saying shit like that! I had everything under control and you had to just throw that out there, now she's going to have something _else_ to rag on me about!'_

_'Well, you know you don't really open up to people, so I just wait for the right moment and, BAM! You say something you really mean to say without really meaning to say it. It lets people know you are capable of intelligent, and somewhat deep thought...'_ his inner voice paused. _'Also lets 'em know that your emotional range goes beyond disgruntled.'_

The voice had the gall to laugh.

"I must be really fucking drunk," Inuyasha decided as he stepped out of the elevator. Not only was he having conversations with himself, he was saying _and_ thinking things that would best be left un... everything.

Maybe it was because he was drunk and she was in his arms, or the fact that she did bare a striking resemblance to Kikyo...

_'Not to mention _'the fact'_ that you haven't been laid for a lot longer than I care to think about.'_

And with that lovely thought bouncing around in his skull like a ping-pong ball gone wild, he tried to get in his apartment door, which wouldn't open. Too frustrated to just dig out his keys and unlock the thing, he rammed his shoulder into it, sending it swinging into the wall. The door jam splintered and the door nob left a nice sized hole in the wall behind it but Inuyasha could care less at this point. He just wanted to take a nice cold shower and go the hell to bed where he would hopefully fall into a deep dreamless sleep, and not have to think about women and how unpredictable they were.

He kicked off his work boots, shrugged off his flannel shirt, leaving it where it fell and was in the process of taking off his shirt when he heard a soft gasp. Kagome was staring at the busted up door, her fingers touching her lips in silent shock. Inuyasha hadn't noticed the dent he left in the door itself, and smiled smugly at the damage.

Kagome noticed him standing there and her eyes widened slightly. Standing almost casually, pulling his white t-shirt the rest of the way off his arms, grinning, with that pleased look lighting his eyes... she was beginning to figure out what that _something else,_ was.

He was stunning, his muscles moving with an almost lazy grace, the light from the hallway deepening the cut of muscles, making them stand out. The slight smile left his face and he turned to her full on, looking at her warily, maybe mentally preparing himself for another row. Lowering her eyes, she stepped over the thresh hold and flicked on the light Inuyasha hadn't bothered with, swallowing hard passed her suddenly dry throat.

"Inuyasha, I want to apologize for the way I acted back there. You were right, I guess I wasn't really using my better judgment and I do appreciate you looking out for me. It's more then some people would do. Thank you."

She had closed the distance between them while she talked, and peeked up from her hands to gage his reaction. It was his turn to look stunned and she couldn't stop herself from leaning forward and brushing a chaste kiss across his cheek before quickly pulling back and turning to go to her bedroom.

"Kagome - "

The words were stuck in his throat, though what he was going to say after he got passed her name he wasn't sure. He didn't even know if his conscience would be able to help him out.

Just as his baser instincts were about to make the decision for him, the front door opened to reveal a red faced Miroku clutching the brown paper bag they had apparently forgotten.

"Was I lucky that one of your kind neighbors was just on their way out when I arrived," he grinned unrepentantly. "Though I don't think she quite appreciated my show of gratitude."

Inuyasha sighed impatiently at the grinning idiot, and was about to tell the unholy man to shut up and take a hike when Miroku shoved the bag at him and he caught a whiff of plastic that he new all to well.

His stomach let out an embarrassingly loud gurgle.

Snatching the bag from his "friend", he went to the kitchen filled up the kettle and began the simple process of making what he used to call Ninja food as a child.

"Perhaps Kagome would like to join us, seeing as it was she who went through the trouble to get it for you," he added casually enough.

This was true, and he began to feel a tinge of guilt at how harshly he had come down on her.

_'She just went out to buy me some more Ramen? Shit...'_

Now he was beginning to feel _really_ guilty about the whole situation.

_'Dammit! Why the hell did she have to do that!? Now I look like a complete bastard!'_

Glaring at Miroku's seemingly innocent comment he jammed his hands in his pockets and made his way to the spare room that was no longer spare. He knocked on the door lightly, praying that the kit hadn't woken up from all the racket he had made breaking in.

_'Feeling awfully courteous aren't you? Why should you care if you woke up the little brat?'_

He decided to ignore that comment not only because his... whatever it was... was clearly unable to stick to one emotional track but because Kagome had just opened the door in her pajamas, which were nothing more then a pair of his boxers and an one of Shippo's over sized t-shirts. Needless to say "over sized" was apparently not the correct term for what she was sporting. He flushed and looked to the side.

"Miroku - the guy from before - stopped by with the bag of stuff you bought. Uh, do you want any?"

He missed her cheeks heat up with color as she stared at him with her mouth open.

Did she want any? Of course she wanted some! Why on earth would he even ask such a silly question? She was about to ask him what he planned on doing with the rest of the tampons when she belatedly realized he was taking about the instant noodles, and took his blush to mean that he had indeed seen what else was in the bag and was trying not to mention it.

Little did she know...

"Um, sure, why not. I am a little hungry." She stepped out of the bedroom, Inuyasha moved out of the way for her to go ahead.

_'You're not gonna let her walk around in front of Miroku - drunk Miroku - wearing that, are you?'_

_'HELL NO!' _

He grabbed up his flannel shirt from the floor and hurried over to intercept her before she reached the kitchen.

"Here," he shoved the shirt into her hands. "Put this on, it's kinda cold." He hoped he didn't sound as dumb as he thought he did.

Kagome made a point of looking at his bare chest, raising her eyebrows in question. He was tempted to say something rude but the slight quirk of her lips made him change his mind.

"Feh! I'm hanyou, the cold doesn't bother me like you weak humans."

Her smile broadened.

"Weak are we? I think my friend Sango would disagree with you. She's been trained in many different forms of martial arts, and was considered to be one of the most advanced students in all of her classes."

"Martial arts eh?" Miroku looked her up and down. "Are you schooled in these techniques as well as your fascinating sounding friend, Sango?"

Kagome laughed out right, seeming to have forgotten all about the butt groping she had received earlier.

"Me? Oh no, I think the general populace is much safer without me trying to break pieces of wood with my hand. Besides," she glanced over at Inuyasha. " I have a big, tough hanyou protecting me. All those _weak_," Inuyasha snorted when he saw where she was going with the comment. "_Pathetic,_" he nodded in agreement, "humans wouldn't dare lay a finger on me now." She laughed at the pleased look he had of her assessment of humans.

Both of them missed the way Miroku's eyes narrowed as he digested this bit of commentary.

_'He's protecting her?'_ Why did that thought make him feel a little uneasy? There was something in that statement that meant _something_, but he was at a loss for -

_'He's _protecting_ her! For a demon,'_

_'or someone of demon lineage,'_ his inner voice interjected.

_'the promise of protection, from certain breeds, carry a significantly different meaning for them. And with Inuyasha being half dog, which is thought to be one of the most loyal demon clans... hmmm...' _

He had to wonder if Inuyasha himself understood the gravity behind the words. Besides the dusting of pink across his cheeks (which was occurring quite frequently this most auspicious of nights) he gave no other outward sign of such an acknowledgment.

_' I believe I will have to have a chat with him later,'_ he thought, coming out of his reflections to silently observe the two tease back and forth.

_'But first I need to find a way to give these to Miss Kagome without her "hanyou protector" seeing.'_

He just didn't want to embarrass said hanyou anymore then necessary, seeing as the pair appeared to have gotten over their misunderstanding from before.

_'Very forgiving this Kagome is... Maybe this isn't just a coincidence, maybe this is just what the Doctor ordered...'_

He smiled and stood up, handing Inuyasha his cup of Ramen in an attempt to distract him.

"Kagome, why don't you show me the rest of the apartment? Seeing as this is the first time I've had the pleasure of visiting Inuyasha's humble abode."

He flashed his most winning smile. Kagome smiled back, showing off a small dimple she had on her left cheek.

Seeing her this close and in the light he could fully understand at least _one_ of the reasons why Inuyasha would choose to protect her.

_'She is damn sexy.' _

If he didn't think it would piss Inuyasha off he would use this time to hit on her, but under the circumstances, he thought he could keep a leash on it... for the time being.

"Sure, if you'll follow me?" she lead him through the kitchen into the hall.

"Down this way is the washroom," opening the door, flicking on the light, she waved her hand in an all encompassing gesture. "_Very_ spacious", she added with a wink.

Miroku had to agree, it was also very clean, not that he thought Inuyasha was a slob, but not many men's bathrooms looked this neat. It definitely had a womans touch.

Kagome preceded to point out the storage closet opposite the bathroom, then led the way back up the hall. Bending down she picked up Inuyasha's discarded articles of clothing, which she shoved into his hands in passing. Continuing on without missing a beat they moved into the living room, which in Miroku's opinion could a few more furnishings.

Aside from the necessities such as a sofa, love seat, chair, and TV, there was nothing on the walls, no embellishments of any kind.

_'Oh, I missed the book case...'_ he thought, which looked sorely out of place sporting only a few books on each shelf.

"And over here is Inuyasha's bedroom..."

At the mention of his bedroom, Inuyasha hurried by them carrying his discarded clothes, and quickly opened and closed the door before they could get a glimpse inside.

"_I_ don't even know what his bedroom looks like," Kagome grinned back at him, rolling her eyes. "That was one of the rules he mentioned when I first came here; under no circumstance am I to enter his room of slumber."

She laughed softly at the memory, then turned to show Miroku to the room she shared with Shippo when he grabbed her arm. She turned around surprised, but he quickly let go putting his hands up in a non threatening gesture.

"Sorry, I just wanted to give you these without Inuyasha seeing" he whispered, pulling the box of tampons from his coat pocket.

Kagome just stood there staring at the box Miroku was holding out for her to take.

_'Oh Kami...'_ She was mortified.

It would have been bad enough if Inuyasha had found them, which he apparently hadn't, but to have a stranger who had gotten a little too familiar with her rear whip them out like that was a little more then she could handle at the moment.

"Um, Miss Kagome?"

Miroku was more then eager to be rid of the box, and she was just _standing_ there.

"Higurashi, Kagome," she said absently not taking her eyes off his hand. Then, with a start, she snatched them up and was about to run to her room when Inuyasha stepped out of his. She stopped mid turn and quickly hid the tampons behind her back.

"What's going on...?" he quarried, looking from one to the other. He could feel Kagome's unease rolling of her in waves.

"What the hell did you do, Miroku!" he demanded, storming over to him; sporting a very discouraging look.

"Inuyasha calm down," Miroku tried, raising his hands again. "It's not what you think. I was just -"

"Just trying to feel her ass again, weren't you! _No one_ likes to have their ass groped by a fucking pervert. Maybe you need some help getting that through your fat fucking _head!_"

Inuyasha's lip curled in a completely feral demonstration while he drew his fist back.

"WAIT! Inuyasha, _please!_ It was nothing like that! He was just giving... me... some...thing..." she trailed off when he turned his attention to her, that vicious look freezing her to the spot.

"And exactly what was he _giving_ you?"

She swallowed her pride in-lieu of having Inuyasha beat the snot out of Miroku, and brought her hand out from behind her back. She hoped that her face wasn't as red as she thought.

_'I can feel the flames starting to come out of my ears,'_ she thought miserably, as Inuyasha started towards her. He looked at her proffered hand then at her. He looked as though he was confused about something.

_'He _has_ to know about women and their time of the month...?'_

He stepped in closer.

"Inuyasha, what are you doing?" He had taken both of her wrists in his hands, completely ignoring the box, and held them away from her. He took a step closer and leaned in.

Kagome didn't know what to do. Just what was he going to do to her?

_'And why do I have the feeling that I would let him?'_

Thankfully he had put on another shirt, which smelled lightly of detergent. She could also smell him this close: his hair, the slight smell of sweat and the lingering traces of alcohol... The combination was heady, making her a little light headed.

Then he did something that she _really_ wasn't expecting... He sniffed her, breathing in deep and slowly letting it out. Still looking confused he sniffed again, moving his head slightly, thoroughly reminding her of a dog.

She was to stunned to do anything more then watch him smell her.

"You don't need those," he said more to himself, "I'd be able to tell." He sniffed at her again, unable to reconcile that his senses were that off.

His human night was still weeks away, so it couldn't be that, but there was something that he couldn't quite put a finger on, something in her scent that he hadn't really noticed before.

Of course he would be able to tell when her cycle was about to start, he was part dog after all. But if she was, it wasn't going to start anytime soon... and thats where he was stuck; she didn't exactly smell like she weeks away from it either. There was a subtle difference, it was deeper, somehow more fundamental...

And then it made sense.

He looked at her wide eyed, let go of her wrists and stepped back.

The look on his face at that very moment scared her more then when he was about to clobber Miroku. It was shock, it was awe, it was confusion, fear, sadness... She had never seen someone portray so many emotions at once and that seemed to scare her the most.

"Inuyasha? What is it? Inuyasha?"

He was just looking at her, and then in the blink of an eye all his emotions closed off and his face was blank, devoid of everything. And for heart stopping moment it was the twin of her first loves and she couldn't breath.

"Inuyasha, what the hell is going on?"

Miroku was worried, he'd never seen Inuyasha look so serious or confused, even when he was drunk. Not to mention the look on Kagome's face...

He moved quickly to her side and helped her sit down before she could fall over.

"Are you alright, Kagome?" he turned his worried gaze back to Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha, what is it? What did you smell?"

"Keh!" was all he could manage at the moment.

_'What the FUCK am I supposed to do!?'_

_'You could just tell her.'_

_'Oh yeah, sure! "Well Kagome, you're not gonna need _those_ for another nine months." '_

His inner voice didn't have a response.

_'How the hell did I miss this? And where the hell is her fucking mate! Why the hell wouldn't she think that a mate would have been important information! WHAT THE FUCK!'_ His brain was reeling with questions and accusations, though they were mainly aimed towards himself.

_'How do I tell her...?'_ Looking over at her, he was alarmed at how pale she was, how her eyes seem to take up half of her face.

He wasn't good at this kind of thing, never had been, and was probably a lot worse since he was still feeling the effects of his night out. But to see her like that and know that he was to blame... He couldn't stop himself from going to her.

Miroku watched him warily as Inuyasha made his way over to them, but Inuyasha's eyes were trained on Kagome who was, intern, staring at him.

He stopped, still staring, and opened his mouth.

"Kagome," his voice was soft, which surprised Miroku. "There's something that you gotta know..." he trailed off becoming extremely nervous.

"You ah, you... don't need to get a job!"

_'What the hell are you doin'! Just fucking tell her!'_

Kagome looked thoroughly befuddled.

_'I don't need to find a job?'_ Then the panic began to take over.

_' Is he saying that there's something seriously wrong with me?!'_

"Inuyasha," making her voice as steady as possible, trying to mask her panic. "What are you talking about? Why wouldn't I get a job? Is there," she swallowed. "Is there something wrong with me?"

"Well, I wouldn't say _wrong_..." he looked away, ashamed of his own cowardice.

"Well then _what!_ You're really scaring me Inuyasha, please just tell me what you know."

The hanyou looked like he wasn't going to comply.

Miroku, usually the epitome of calm was losing his patience very quickly.

"Inuyasha, you're scaring the poor girl. Spit it out already!"

He looked up, taken aback by Miroku's vehemence, feeling all the more guilty.

Balling up his fists, he forced his eyes up to meet Kagome's.

"You're pregnant."

Silence

"...What did you say?"

"I said you're pregnant."

"_Pregnant_? As in - "

"As in you're gonna be a mother."

"..._pregnant_...?" her voice high, on the verge of squeaky

That explained a few things.

She looked down at her still flat stomach, thinking back to when she was first on her own. She had felt sick off and on when her home life was beginning to unravel, and when he left she just thought that she was upset from everything that had happened, worn out by the hours of crying, worrying about what would happen next. The random throwing up, the no-show period, the moodiness, the enlarged breasts...

_'I'm going to have a baby... I'm going to have _his_ baby? Oh Kami, what am I going to tell him?'_

"You're positive?" she asked, still looking at her stomach.

Inuyasha was getting a little annoyed at the lack of faith in his smelling abilities.

"I'm a big, giant plus sign, OK!" Kagome glanced up, her face writ with confusion, her eyes a deep pool of worry.

"I... I mean – that is... a big, giant plus sign?" his words actually penetrating her jumbled mind, and for some reason this struck her as hilariously funny.

"A giant plus sign!" she started to laugh.

Inuyasha and Miroku looked at each other nervously.

"Um, Kagome, are you gonna be ok?"

She laughed even harder.

"Why don't I get you a glass of water?" Miroku offered as he got up to head for the kitchen and away from the somewhat crazed laughing.

Inuyasha spluttered, being left alone with Kagome was something that he wasn't very comfortable with at the moment.

"Uh..." he restrained the urge to fidget. "Are you really ok?"

Looking up at her, he saw that tears were leaking out of the corners of her eyes from laughing so hard.

Maybe it was his genuine look of concern that helped get the hysteria under wraps. She quieted down to the occasional hiccup of laughter.

"I think I'm better now," she said taking a deep breath.

Miroku handed her a glass of water; she took a sip.

"This must be very unexpected news, Miss Kagome. Is there anyone you would like us to call? Your family perhaps?"

"I, uh, I don't know if I want to tell them yet. I think I still need some time to get used to the idea myself." She looked over at Inuyasha, who was moodily looking anywhere but at her.

"A baby," she breathed, trying to imagine the look on _his_ face when she told him.

_'Is he going to have the same look Inuyasha had, awed and afraid? Or is he going to just slam the door in my face? What if he won't even let me explain it to him?'_ And then something occurred to her. Why hadn't he been able to tell that she was pregnant? He was a full fledged youkai, Inuyasha was hanyou, there was bound to be a slightly higher range of senses between the two. She had to know.

"Inuyasha, would a full youkai have been able to tell that I was pregnant sooner?"

He looked a little annoyed by the question.

"How the hell should I know? That wolf bastard didn't seem to pick up on it, but he probably wouldn't have been able to tell even if you were about to birth the damn pup he's so stupid."

"But what about Shippo? Would he know, I mean I've been spending a lot of time with him since I got here and he hasn't said anything." She was hard pressed not to go in and wake him up to ask.

"I dunno if he's old enough to even know the difference."

"Apparently neither were you," Miroku said, unable to stop himself.

"Shut the fuck up! I don't know a ton of pregnant women, so fucking sue me! And what does it matter if a youkai could tell sooner? I just told you, so now you know, and by the look of you you're not that far along so I say I caught it pretty early."

"But it's been about two months since we were together last..."she trailed off looking startled by her own discovery.

"You two have been together for a while now? Inuyasha, I thought you just met her?" his eyebrows raised, a grin twitching his lips while Inuyasha stuttered over his words.

"So does this mean that I should be buying you a cigar?" he asked slyly.

"Does _what_! I'M NOT THE FUCKING FATHER YOU GODDAMN PERVERT!"

"Inuyasha, keep your voice down, Shippo is still sleeping."

_'Says the girl who just had a laughing fit,'_ she thought inwardly.

"Keep my voice down! That meddling prick just accused me of being the father, _you_ should be screaming at him, more then at me!"

She supposed he did have a point, but -

"Well, you do kind of look like him," she admitted in a small voice.

"What!"

Was the night ever going to end?

* * *

Well, there you have it ladies and gentlemen. The cat is out of the bag and a big fat lemon was just tossed. How do you like them apples?

I _could_ uses a few more sayings but I think that'll do it for this authors note.

Anyway, hope you liked it because I worked long and frickin' hard on this bad boy.

Til next time!

Tsuki Miko


	7. Chapter 7

Confirmation

Chapter 7

"_Well, it's official," Kagome's new OBGYN stated with a smile, "you are indeed pregnant. I'd say about seven weeks into your first trimester."_

_Kagome sat there in the blue hospital gown eyes on the floor. She had known in her heart that what Inuyasha had said was true but having it confirmed by a doctor seemed to solidify the whole thing._

"_I'm going to be a mother..."_

"_Yes, you are," Dr. Mendrakas sustained quietly. "Now, as you mentioned before, this was not a planned pregnancy?" Kagome nodded. "And you maintain that you haven't been consuming any alcohol, or taking any drugs?"_

_Kagome's head snapped up, eyes wide as she stared incredulously at the doctor._

"_I'm sorry, Kagome, it's just something that I need to be absolutely certain on, so that we can rule out testing for certain anomalies. It is unfortunate but sometimes when the mother is unaware she's carrying a child she will continue on with her current lifestyle. Not that that is a bad thing, and I don't mean to imply anything either but I think that it's safe to say that in this day and age the use of alcohol and drugs is not uncommon." She finished with a slight smile trying to appease the poor girl. _

_Kagome still looked as though she had been struck._

"_No, I don't drink and I don't do _any_ drugs."_

"_No prescription? Taking any allergy medication? Tylenol? Nothing?"_

"_Nothing." She stated with finality. She knew the doctor was just doing her job but it still pricked her pride. She only ever drank at family events, dinner parties, and even then it was maybe a glass of wine if anything! _

_Taking a calming breath she looked up at the doctor again and smiled tiredly._

"_I apologize, I've been a little out of sorts since I initially found out. It was a big shock..."_

"_I can imagine it was."_

_There was silence where they contemplated each other. _

"_Well," Dr. Mendrakas stood up and went to her desk, pulling out a pamphlet from a holder. "You'll need to begin taking prenatal vitamins, they will help make up for any nutritional deficiencies in your diet. After going over your medical history I think that your best choice would be 'Neo-Vita'. Here's all the information about that specific brand, but if cost is a concern then 'Pre-Nats' would be the best alternative." Kagome briefly looked over the pamphlet the doctor had given her. _

"_As you know, nutrition and exercise are also very important during pregnancy," she said, reaching behind her to grab a booklet off of the bookcase. "This contains tons of information on foods that will be of importance to your developing child, and exercises that will be safe for you to use. But don't worry too much when you begin having ridiculous cravings, if you haven't already; that is completely normal. As far as the weight gaining aspect of pregnancy, that will be monitored each visit and I will be able to determine if you need to put more on or hold back." The doctor smiled widely._

"_One of my favorite things, while I pregnant with my son, William, was not having to worry about everything I put in my mouth," she sighed wistfully, gazing at a very obviously pregnant picture of herself, a plate with a slice of cake resting on her distended stomach, one hand pointing this out, the other holding a fork in triumph. Her smile was ear to ear, a trace amount of chocolate frosting on the corner of her mouth. _

_Kagome smiled as the warmth of the picture washed over her, making her feel more at ease with the whole situation then she had been for the last few days. She unconsciously raised her hand to her still flat belly._

"_I guess the best advice I can give you is everything in moderation, but over indulging every once in a while wont hurt anyone, and sometimes it leads to highly amusing keepsakes." She smiled again, her face reflecting that of the picture. _

"_Now," she again reached behind herself to the bookcase and selected a more substantial looking book. "This is a very useful book, it takes you through all the steps that we've discussed earlier today. It also has a section where you can record any information that you feel is important, like the first time you feel your baby move, for instance." _

_She flipped the book open to the lined pages about halfway through. There seemed to be fun facts already written along the sides of the blank pages. _

"_Here, in the back of the book there is a list of support groups for expectant mothers. A lot of women find these very helpful, being able to relate to others going through the same thing, knowing that you're not as alone as you may sometimes feel."_

_Kagome looked away from the doctors kind eyes, feeling like she might burst into tears if they kept the contact. _

_Dr. Mendrakas got up and went behind her desk. _

"_Here's my card," she paper clipped it to the front on the pregnancy book and handed it to Kagome._

"_These are all of my numbers, if you ever need anything – day or night – call me." _

Shaking hands, the doctor had left to give Kagome some privacy to change. From there she left the doctors office and headed to reception to make her next appointment, which brought her to the present; walking back to Inuyasha's apartment. She wasn't exactly thrilled with that thought.

Things had been unbelievably tense since Inuyasha's discovery. He'd barely talked to her in days, just shooting her furtive glances out of the corner of his eyes and mumbling when he was leaving and going to be back.

He hadn't stuck around the morning after that disastrous night.

She'd lain awake all night too shocked to even think about sleep, and after the first rays of sunlight spread across the floor she heard Inuyasha's bedroom door open. Listening to him move around the rest of the apartment, she tried to make out what the brief, muffled conversation he had with Miroku. She just wanted to know what Inuyasha thought of everything.

He hadn't really said much after she'd let the slip about him resembling the father of her child; he just stammered a bit before all but running to his room and slamming the door so hard she could feel it in her feet. She'd gotten out blankets and a pillow for Miroku, who almost wouldn't let her do that simple act because of her "delicate condition". Thoroughly befuddled from everything that had happened that night her patience was wearing thin, and he had finally backed off and let her get the bedding when she shot him a look that was designed to kill on the spot.

She hadn't seen Miroku since then either, which was a little disappointing because it was nice to see Inuyasha interacting with other people besides Shippo and herself, even if he had been trying to beat the crap out of him. It would also be nice to have an actual conversation with someone. She was in dire need of a confidant, but she was still in shock and the thought of telling her family that she was living with a hanyou who saved her from the streets while she was unknowingly pregnant... not to mention the fact that the father may or may not have known that she was carrying his child, she shuddered to think of what would happen if they ever found that out. From a business perspective there had already been some upheaval between the two companies, and not just from the tension her breakup created, but the merger with Onigumo was also taking a toll on the business world.

Dragging her glum thoughts away from that sore spot, she was hit with sudden inspiration.

"Sango..." she whispered to herself, a smile breaking over her previously dismal features.

_'Of course! Why didn't I think of her sooner!'_ and just as fast as the smile spread her face fell again.

Would Sango even want to talk to her? She hadn't kept in contact with anyone, more out of shame then anything. Would Sango be angry with her? Should she even lay something like this on her, just because she wanted to talk to someone about her secret?

_'This is not some dirty secret,'_ she grimaced, disgusted by her own thoughts. _'This is my baby, _our _baby, I shouldn't be trying to cover it's existence up!' Why shouldn't I tell Sango? She's my friend, my best friend, and even though we haven't talked in a while that shouldn't make a difference; she's always been there for me.'_ She held onto that while she walked the rest of the way to Inuyasha's with a new sense of purpose, all the while fighting off that small voice of doubt that seemed to be slowly eating away at her resolve as of late.

"Shippo? Are you home yet?" she called into the seemingly empty apartment while she removed the key. Nothing. She closed the door and made her way to the spare room to dump off her things. Nearly jumping out of her skin when she saw something scuttle across the floor, she managed to scare herself even more when the force of her scream echoed back at her in the small space. No sooner had she closed her mouth did Inuyasha's door come flying open with, Inuyasha's claws raised, ready to strike.

"What! What is!" his ears swiveling around like radars trying to catch any sound, while his eyes scanned the room for the culprit.

"It's a mouse! I think it ran under the sofa, get it! _Get it!!_"

"A mouse!?" he snorted and relaxed his stance. "All that noise over a puny mouse?" he snorted again unable to quite grasp how a mouse could cause such a ruckus.

Lifting up the sofa with apparent ease he spied the mouse quivering in the corner, he smirked, moving the sofa out of the way as he bent down to grab it with his free hand, which it promptly darted away from. Inuyasha frowned, putting the sofa back on the ground before he made another move to snag the fast little rodent.

"Get over here..."

The mouse was scurrying in Kagome's general direction, she shrieked again and launched herself onto the nearest stool, scrabbling onto the bar style counter, hoping that it was high enough off the ground so the beast couldn't get at her.

"Why you little... come here!" Inuyasha yelled after another unsuccessful attempt. He chased it down the hall and made a last, mad attempt to grab it before it disappeared into the storage closet, which Inuyasha slid right into, causing the door to fold inward with the force. Cursing up a storm he carefully extricated himself from the mess he'd inadvertently made and glared over his shoulder at Kagome who was still on top of the counter bouncing from on foot to the other like she had to use the bathroom, wringing her fingers nervously. The worried look on her face made her seem even more like the child that her actions mirrored, though he would never tell her that he found it so endearing. He kept the glare in place and stood up brushing off the debris from his collision with the door.

"Inuyasha, are you ok? Did you get the mouse? It isn't dead is it? Are you really ok?"

"Keh! Like that could hurt me, and no, I didn't kill the mouse. Damn thing got away." He almost laughed at the look of chagrin she shot him.

"Get down from there before you fall and break something, wench..." he trailed off when he abruptly remembered exactly what she could harm if she did end up falling. He'd already had his hand out to help her down and she was tentatively reaching for it, seeming more concerned that the mouse might come back then the fact that she was inadvertently putting her unborn child in danger. He growled low and moved in closer so that he could grab her around her currently petite waist and put her safely on the ground.

She kept her eyes down, thinking that he was angry with her for her utterly ridiculous, girlie, reaction that caused all this mayhem, quickly removing her hands from his shoulders when her feet touch the floor. She was forced to look up when he just stood there un-relinquishing his hold.

"Inuyasha, I'm really sorry," she began, troubled by his black scowl. "I know it's a stupid, irrational fear but I... I..." The glare he was pinning her with was enough to stop her from her speech.

"The stupid, irrational fear doesn't come close to your stupid, irrational reaction! How could you just put your pup at risk like that!"

His words cut through her slight adrenaline haze.

"I didn't," she stammered, "I didn't even think..."

"I guess that happens a lot doesn't it!" he nearly shouted, finally letting go and wheeling around so he could try and rein in some of his anger. When he thought he had it under a semblance of control there was a knock on the door. Anger flaring again at the unexpected company, he stomped over to give who ever was on the other side his two cents worth.

"What do you want," he glowered at the middle aged woman he opened the door to.

She seemed a little taken aback by Inuyasha's appearance but quickly covered it up when her eyes darted passed him, taking in the busted up door then landing on Kagome still standing where he left her. That seemed to harden her resolve and she pinned Inuyasha with as much of an answering glower as she could muster.

He straightened up blocking Kagome from her view.

"I heard yelling and was concerned," she replied honestly, with a hard edge to her words.

"Keh! Not that it's any of your business; there was a mouse. Why don't you go bother the super with that bit of information."

He was about to shut the door when the woman stuck out her hand to stop him.

"What now!"

The woman was looking distinctly nervous now, he could smell the fear building, and he was a little ashamed of himself for the way he was acting, but he was _angry_ dammit, and frustrated, and embarrassed and this woman was not helping him with her scared eyes.

"I-I...I, ah, was just wondering if your, your girlfriend wanted to may-maybe get a coffee..." she stuttered, the hard edge in her voice all but dissipated.

Inuyasha looked involuntarily over his shoulder at his per posed "girlfriend" only to feel all the worse for it. She was crying, though he wouldn't have been able to pick up on it if he hadn't smelled the tears. He didn't mean to make her cry, he just wanted her to see how dangerous her actions - on a regular basis – were, and now that she was carrying a pup she would have to put a stop to it.

_'Maybe you could have actually said that to her instead of scream in her face. This is new to her too, she just needs some time to adjust to it. Besides,'_ his inner voice put in helpfully,_'you did say that we'd protect her, right? Even if it means protecting her from herself.'_

He silently grunted in agreement before turning back to the woman blocking his doorway.

"Kagome," he could hear the sharp intake of breath at her name and sighed inwardly. "Did you catch that?"

"No, I'm sorry, I didn't," she half whispered before taking a deep breath and starting forward.

"Please excuse my rudeness," she said to the stranger in an trying to mask her upset. She's also managed to clean up her face in the brief walk down the hall way. "I was a little preoccupied there, did you need something?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

_'And there she goes again! Putting other fucking peoples needs in front of her own.'_

"She didn't _need _anything, she _wanted_ to know if you wanted to go get a drink." He rephrased.

Kagome looked a little shocked at the invite and gave the woman a genuinely regretful smile.

"Perhaps another time, Ms...?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, I guess I'm the one being rude now," the woman said relaxing visibly in Kagome's calming presence, though her eyes still shifted back to Inuyasha frequently as though trying to gage his reaction.

"I'm..." she paused seemingly debating on whether or not to give her name. Her eyes locked with Inuyasha's, the most direct stare she'd given him since he'd opened the door, and he wasn't sure what confused him the most, the message she was sending him or what she seemed to be searching for. She broke the contact after what felt like hours in what was only seconds to continue talking to Kagome.

"Stephenie Delainey," she said in her timid voice accompanied by a slight twitch of her lips. "Well, um, Kagome, was it?"

"Higurashi, Kagome, yes." She smiled encouragingly.

"Another time then, and, uh, if you ever want to-to talk I'm in," she shot Inuyasha another meaningful look, " number 617."

"Thanks again, and we'll try to keep it down," she added her cheeks pinking with belated embarrassment.

Inuyasha turned away from the door quickly to hide his own flush and stomped over to the living room to flop down on the sofa. He rubbed a hand over his face.

_'Women make absolutely no sense! What the fuck was with that woman!? So we were being noisy, big fuckin' deal, I hear the neighbors all the time and don't go knockin' on their damn doors.' _

He decided to ignore the fact that he had extra sensitive hearing and normal humans wouldn't be able to hear what he was privy to. His mind involuntarily wandered in the direction of just what he was being privy to before Kagome had encountered the mouse. His flush darkened further as he recalled the afternoon tryst he had inadvertently over heard when he'd innocently gone to catch up on some shut eye.

Gritting his teeth he willed his body to behave when Kagome plopped down in the chair opposite him. He could feel that she was still upset and was trying to think of a way to state his own feelings when she beat him to it.

"Inuyasha?" she began quietly, not really waiting for a response. "About before... well, I know that it was silly of me but it's just something that I've always done, its a gut reaction I guess."

She rolled her eyes at her own derisory fear, her initial self disgust slowly being replaced by irritation.

"I know it appears that I don't know how to take care of myself, or my baby," she added softly. "But I'm still new to all of this: living on my own, well... sort of, and finding out I'm preg - " her voice caught on the word, "pregnant; I can hardly believe it! It's a lot to process, and I'm doing my best to take it in stride but it's going to take a little time for me to figure out how to..." she paused, impatiently motioning her hand in a searching gesture, "to... balance it all." She paused a second time mulling the word over.

"I know this can't be easy for you either. I guess you got a lot more then you bargained for when you rescued me, huh?" her eyes flashed up to meet his in apology.

Her choice in words caught him off guard.

_'Is that really what she thinks I did for her?' _

He couldn't think of what to say in reply, what was he supposed to say? He belatedly realized that she was looking at him full on, a peculiar look in her eyes.

"What?" he asked still thrown by what she'd said before.

"You do look like him an awful lot sometimes..." she trailed off her eyes focused on him.

"I look like who?" though he knew the answer almost as soon as he asked the question. He looked away oddly embarrassed, though he could still feel her eyes on him.

"My _pups_ father," she sighed, sounding strangely defeated, "Sesshomaru."

It took a minute for Inuyasha's brain to start working again.

"_What did you say?_" he couldn't keep the incredulity out of his tone.

"Sesshomaru, he was my-my mate, I guess; that's what he called it anyway." She didn't seem to notice Inuyasha's reaction too preoccupied with the utter mentioning of his name.

"Are you _fucking_ serious!"

That got her attention.

"What's wrong?"

She was more then surprised at the vehemence behind his words but what shocked her the most was how livid Inuyasha seemed to be. Every second that ticked by increased his anger and she could feel trepidation beginning to seep in.

"Do you know him?" she whispered suddenly deathly afraid of his answer, wishing she hadn't ever brought it up.

"I guess you could say that," he spat.

The room was plunged into a warped kind of silence, Kagome, waiting with baited breath while Inuyasha tried to gain some control over his much abused emotions.

"That fucking _bastard_ is my brother," he finally managed between clenched teeth.

If he said anything else after that it was lost to Kagome. She passed out seconds later due to lack of oxygen.

* * *

Apologies for the gap in updates. I was working so hard on getting the last chapter perfect that I didn't really put much thought into what was going to happen in the following one.

Thanks again for all the support, it really does help keep me motivated ) (that's supposed to be a smiley face).

tsuki miko


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